NHTSA Opens EQ Investigation into Hercules Tire Recall at Lawyer’s Request

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently opened an Equipment Query investigation into defective Chinese tires sold throughout the U.S. under different brand names.These tires were recalled by one US importer, but although originating from the same distributor not by a second importer.

In March 2015, the NHTSA sent a request for information to Hercules Tire and Rubber Company, being a subsidiary of American Tire Distributors Inc., to decide if it should also have recalled the Hercules Radial A/T which is available in eight different sizes and is manufactured by The Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Co., Ltd. The tires that were essentially the same, but sold as Capitol Precision Trac II, were recalled by importer ITG Voma in October 2014. The recall population of 94,890 tires included seven sizes for passenger cars and light trucks. Both tires were manufactured by Shandong Yongsheng and shared a common green designation, defined by NHTSA as: “tires that are produced to the same internal specifications but that have, or may have different external characteristics and may be sold under different tire line names.” Both were distributed by American Tire Distributors.