Federal Tyres Splitting!

[grygtr]

Hi All,

Recently purchased some federal 595 RSR with the plan to run them at superlap in the clubsprint class.

Imagine my horror when after only 15 laps of wakefield at no more than 5 laps at a time one being warm up and another being cool down the tyres appear to have split the casings like retreds.

But the worst thing was the local suppliers reaction....

"After looking at them closely it is clear that they have ‘tread splice overlap feathering’ – this is not uncommon in tyres used for track work and is usually the result of heat build up.

With Federal 595RS-R’s the tread splice overlap is where the top layer of the tread has been joined to the lower layer when the tyre is built, this splice is not where the tread is actually joined to the inner casing of the tyre and when it begins to ‘feather’ like it has in these photos it does not affect the performance of the tyre.

Through our testing and extended use on competition level drift cars, circuit cars and high performance street cars with 595RS-R’s we have never seen a tread separation or delamination caused by the tread splice over lap.

In 2008 Federal tyres sponsored Nathan Weissel in the Drift Australia series and supplied 595RS-R’s for his vehicle. During testing we noticed that the tread splice on his tyres was feathering and after advice from Federal Taiwan decided to re-run the same tyres to see if the splice got any worse.

Nathan wore these and many other 595RS-R’s down to the casing with only one delamination for the entire series and we believe that this was because of the tyre mounting the top of a ripple strip while spinning.

In the extremely unlikely event of one of these tyres delaminating due to this tread splice, it will qualify for a pro-rata warranty replacement."

What bothers me is the offer to replacment on pro-rata basis in the event it fails, without having looked at anything other than these pictures. If the tyre fails at eastern creek @ 250+ the last thing I will care about is a F***ing pro rata replacment.

Considering what I paid for now useless tyres, I'm nothing short of outraged im now out $1400 with no tyres for superlap.

So now my winge is over has this happened to anyone else? if so what did federal do?

Also note i didn't drift or overheat the tyres and the email quoeted is word for word and complete.

Cheers

Check (if you live in usa): Kroger Weekly Ad, or Myer catalogue.

[Kaido_RR]

very interesting,

i know i have issue with my federal (595 SS) tearing apart when i use them for drifting, having talked to a some other drifters it seems like a common problem and the best way to solve this is to put the tyre on in the incorrect direction.

However not directly related to your issue but it seems that federal tyres may have few issues.

[grygtr]

Thanks for the info I guess for me running the tyre backwards won't help, my big fear is seperation at speed. I guess my only option is to buy more tyres from a slightly better manufacturer and let everyone I come accross know about the poor servive and product.

very interesting,

i know i have issue with my federal (595 SS) tearing apart when i use them for drifting, having talked to a some other drifters it seems like a common problem and the best way to solve this is to put the tyre on in the incorrect direction.

However not directly related to your issue but it seems that federal tyres may have few issues.

Edited April 26, 2010 by grygtr

[badhairdave]

Those tyres have barely been pushed. You haven't even feathered the edge of the tread blocks.

I would respond to their email and point out that you are not interested in pro rata replacement if and when it delaminates due to the obvious safety concerns/potential damage that will result in a high speed delamination on a race track.

State that you will be pursuing the matter through the Dept of fair trading/small claims court if you are not satisfied with their response. You will be seeking a full refund as they are not performing as advertised.

Basically, they are a high performance tyre, they are near new and they have started to come apart. You wouldn't accept it on the cheapest of tyres. They are advertised as a competition/motorsport tyre http://www.federaltyres.com.au/specs/ss595.pdf

Have a look at the dept of fair trading website in the mean time under the warranty section. The tyres are new, you have a warranty, they have to honour it, it's the law. http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Consumer...warranties.html

You have everything you need to back yourself and get a refund or replacement.

Edited April 27, 2010 by badhairdave

[DRD-00F]

You've got 4 pictures up, did this happen to 4 of 4 tyres? Or 1? How many? Maybe I missed it.

I drift in the SS's, I've never come across this problem. I know many people using the RS-Rs as well and haven't had a complaint either.

also, what size tyre were they?

[grygtr]

It happened to all 4, 265/35/18 the are RS-Rs

You've got 4 pictures up, did this happen to 4 of 4 tyres? Or 1? How many? Maybe I missed it.

I drift in the SS's, I've never come across this problem. I know many people using the RS-Rs as well and haven't had a complaint either.

also, what size tyre were they?

[DRD-00F]

Well that sucks...

Where did you actually buy them from, and who was the email from? Just wondering if maybe they were old stock that was lieing around for a while?

Also, SAU:NSW has a deal going with Federal Tyres to supply members affordable tyres from their range, so I'm a bit disapointed to see this on all four tyres!

Maybe a PM would be better then public...

[samstain]

I had the same thing happen to at least one of my tyres (235/45R17 595RS)... at the time I thought it was just a cut from sliding over something sharp at motorkhana, didn't really look in to it any further, but after seeing your photos that exactly what mine looked like.

Didn't seem to cause any problems, thought the tyres have only seen a couple of short sprints to 200km/hr, they have never done any real hard sustained track work.

They were fairly old stock - 07 build?

Edited April 27, 2010 by samstain

[Mr. Untouchable]

bloody hell, I'd be pissed too. And I was thinking about grabbing a set of these soon too.

[grygtr]

It would not be fair to name names, I was asking a broad question as to if this had happened to others, I know 2 others in canberra whom this has happened to, so I was assuming this was a broader problem.

I also considered this to be a matter of saftey im sure others have the same issue without even knowing.

I can assure you these were NOT part of an SAU group buy and may be a local supply issue.

I purchased these from a local workshop that got them straight from a local supplier in canberra.

Well that sucks...

Where did you actually buy them from, and who was the email from? Just wondering if maybe they were old stock that was lieing around for a while?

Also, SAU:NSW has a deal going with Federal Tyres to supply members affordable tyres from their range, so I'm a bit disapointed to see this on all four tyres!

Maybe a PM would be better then public...

[MrStabby]

IMO those tyres are unroadworthy, and therefore you qualify for full replacement. The Fair Trading laws are strong and clear. Force them to replace the tyres, as you say its a safety issue.

[hrd-hr30]

some info about tread splices and continuing to run on them

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tec...;currentpage=64

[Granthem]

I wouldnt wait until it delaminates to get qualify for replacements. How f**king stupid is that!

Its like saying my new bottom end has a knock, and waiting for the piston to exit the block before doing anything about it.

[Bunta]

I had these tyres that lasted for over 20,000 road ks and a few track days, they had these marks on them after a while, it never did anything and they were quite shallow. I personally wouldnt be that wourried about it but would watch and make sure they dont open up further, my guess is if you have the tyres on the right way they wont open up further

[option1garage]

Hi guys

We are a reseller of these and also run the Federal Time Attack S14. We have found this is part of normal wear for a Street based Motorsport tyre. The tyres on our S14 has similar signs at the tread splice this however does not affect the performance of the tyre not the safety of them.

The S14 was initially built for National Level drifting and has gone through MANY pairs of RSR's used on the rear in 235/40/18 stretched onto 18x10 rims. The wear was smooth and even across each and every tyre, never did we have the tyres delaminate or fall apart.

Since becoming exclusively a Time Attack competitor it has seen 40+'C days at Queensland Raceway with the tyres never missing a beat even after 6 solid fast laps before having to pull in to let the car cool.

I have saved the photos and sent them to our Federal Distributor and I'd say they might offer you some advice.

Just a round up, we see this on ours, it is just the tread splice becoming visible as the tread wears and is nothing we are concerned with, on our own cars sponsored and personal cars, as we see this on most Street based Motorsport tyre.

Hope this helps.

[Robby_S14]

Hi Guys!

Along with Paul who posted above I also drive the mentioned S14a, on Federals RS-R Tires.

I also work for the QLD Federal Importer.

As mentioned I personally use the RS-R and have for quite some time, in many different applications.

The tread splicing in the top layer is approximately a 45degree beveled join. After a short session the tread join becomes visible, and just feathers out around the aformentioned join. Being a softer compound motorsport orientated tire it is certainly not uncommon to see the tread join open up, and it is not detrimental to the tire or its performance.

Usually as the tire wears down, the 'problem' visible tread join disappears.

For certain applications we have buffed the tread surface down for shallower tread, and the tread join becomes not visible.

Usually the tread join is only visible as the tires in its new state, as with the soft compound and deep tread, the tread has a likely hood to move more than it would when its beginning to wear.

Hope This Helps

Robby Mounfield

[MrStabby]

Good to hear it appears to be only a cosmetic problem, but how would you stop a cop from defecting you? An official statement from Federal would probably do the job - does one exist that owners could print out and keep in the glove box? If Federal are not willing to issue such a statement then I'd still be demanding replacements - you don't want to be relying on hearsay if something bad happens.

[Bunta]

Good to hear it appears to be only a cosmetic problem, but how would you stop a cop from defecting you? An official statement from Federal would probably do the job - does one exist that owners could print out and keep in the glove box? If Federal are not willing to issue such a statement then I'd still be demanding replacements - you don't want to be relying on hearsay if something bad happens.

I doubt a cop would even look twice at them, when you see them up close in real life its really obvious they are only a surface mark, when i first saw mine i, like others, just thought i had run over somthing sharp and didnt worry about it because it obviously wasnt deep enough to cause a problem.

[Duncan]

I've used these for a couple of years on my stagea (circuit and road), and 350z (circuit, motorkhana skids and road) without any problems. might be a bad batch, might be bad luck...either way I would not accept anything but replacement or refund.

[R34 -_-]

Bridgestone makes some decent tires if your looking for a slightly better brand, i had the basic potenza's and they gripped much better than other tires iv used (nankang and federal)