Goodyear denies it is conducting 'silent recall'

AKRON, Ohio (CNN) -- Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. said Tuesday that consumers had experienced problems with some of its 16-inch tires but denied a published report that it was conducting a "silent recall."

Spokesman Chuck Sinclair said the company has found "no defect" in its Load Range E 16-inch light truck tires.

The Los Angeles Times published a report Tuesday saying that for the past four years Goodyear had been quietly replacing thousands of failed tires fitted on vans, light trucks, and sport utility vehicles.

The story said Goodyear has also been writing checks to consumers, but only to those who complained amounting to what some safety experts and plaintiffs attorneys said was an unannounced or "silent" recall.

Sinclair acknowledged that Goodyear had encountered what he called an "application issue" with the tires, meaning the tires were being strained because of either overloading or underinflation. Sinclair said that led, "in many cases" to tread separation in the tires.

He said he did not know the number of tread separation cases.

Sinclair said the company was reacting to customer complaints and that dealers were helping customers replace the tires. He said three committees within Goodyear scrutinized the problem and "in all cases" found "no defects."

At this point, he said, there is no need to notify the federal government because no defect was found, but, that Goodyear "will cooperate fully" with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration if a defect is eventually found.

The Times quoted NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson as saying the agency is stepping up its inquiry into 15 deaths and 120 injuries linked to the tires.

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