Tire Sidewall problems of the 2001 Chevrolet 2500

2001 Chevrolet 2500 equipped with firestone steeltex r4s tires left driver rear tire sidewall blew out. The tread was intact and in perfect condition after the sidewall failure.

Our 2001 Chevrolet silverado 2500hd truck, which is still under warranty, was presented to firestone on Saturday April 10, 2004 at 10am to show them excessive cracks surrounding sidewalls consistently on all four original tires. They gave us a report of the tread wear on the bottoms which was not the concern we had and offered us a pro-rated rate of 45% off of the manufactures suggested retail which would come to $489 with costs. We explained that the tires were dry rotting and dave, the service manager at the greensburg, PA firestone tire & service center explained that cliff from firestone's engineering dept, the regional manager had told him that there are three stages of dry rot and if the tires were dry rot you would be able to fit a penny into the cracks. This is where we left off as of today and will be communicating further with them.

I have my chevy 2500hd in to check all 4 firestone steeltex at oem tires because of sidewall separation concern. I have 26,000 miles on these tires and all are consistent maybe because of recommended tire rotations. I hope I don't have to follow up on this problem for a resolution after the visit to the dealer today.