There’s another safety warning out of the Chinese assembly lines, and this time it involves your car.

There are at this time approximately 36 million Chinese-made tire-valve stems on cars in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) is investigating claims that the rubber, foreign air-valves sold between September 2006 and June 2007 crack prematurely, causing tire failure. Complaints of tire failure include reports of fatal car accidents and rollovers.

According to auto-safety consultant Sean Kane, cracks in the rubber near the rim hole of the tire-valve could appear in as little as six months. The defect is most likely caused by the improper mixing of the rubber compound used to make the valve.

The NHTSA has yet to complete their investigation and issue a national alert. Until then, you can protect yourself and your family by continuing to regularly check your tire pressure. If you routinely come up with low pressure, take your vehicle to a trusted mechanic and request an inspection.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Defective Products, Law Firm Links, SUV Rollovers, Tire Defects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.