Cracks in Cooper LTZ

[scomac]

Hi all
I was inspecting my Cooper Zeon LTZ 285/60/18's and found quite a few cracks in the sidewalls. Three out of four tyres have these "cracks".
They have no chips or chunks missing from them because they have not really done any hard work. They have probably done about 20k. They are three years old. Has anyone come across this, will cooper replace them?
Cheers
Scomac733597336073361

[kingo]

I had cracks in the lugs on some Coopr St's quite a few years ago. Cooper's were going to replace them on a pro rata basis, if the tyres were half worn down, they would cover half the cost.

These tyres had done some quite hard off road work and I probably had the pressures too high, there was signs of the off road use, but Cooper's didn't seem to be concerned. They are off road tyres, so should be expected that they can head into that environment.

[Gribbsmy13]

Looks like the side walls are getting scrubbed out pretty badly. What pressure are you running? Looks like a lie 30 psi on road wear

[~Rich~]

Hi Scomac,
Kingo is correct re Coopers warranty replacement.
The only thing they might be able to call you on is if you have not had a wheel alignment by a Cooper dist every 10,000k if I recall correctly.
Funny how you are in Perth read this thread:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/190447-cooper-ltz-zion-issues.html#post2075426

Cheers Rich

[scomac]

Thanks for the reply and link guys.
Ran my pressures at 36psi front and back as recommended and always rotated them every 10k.
I'll take them in and see what they say.
Cheers

[Gribbsmy13]

If that's the case I would say the outer rubber is too soft, have you been towing

[Tombie]

Why am I not surprised :)

[scomac]

Hi Scomac,
Kingo is correct re Coopers warranty replacement.
The only thing they might be able to call you on is if you have not had a wheel alignment by a Cooper dist every 10,000k if I recall correctly.
Funny how you are in Perth read this thread:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/190447-cooper-ltz-zion-issues.html#post2075426

Cheers Rich

Hey Rich
Took a tyre into Tyre Power today and they will replace them under pro rata warranty. I'll get $900 for three tyres, unfortunately they wont do anything with the tyre that has nothing wrong with it, fair I guess.
I've been dealing with Bryn at the Osborne Pk store here for about 10yrs and they have always looked after me on price and service so hats off to them.

[Tombie]

Hi,

Keep in mind a worn tyre on the same axle as a new one can cause problems in the vehicle.

[LGM]

And there I was just about to put another set of Coopers on my D4 in prep for my next little Pilbara sojourn:(

Your posts have me questioning that decision. Mind you I am running 19's and have had no cracking that I have seen to date.:confused:

[BMKal]

I think that the well known problems with Coopers have a fair bit to do with where you drive the vehicle.

My boss has them on his D3 and is very happy with them (Perth based and travels mainly only in the southern parts of WA).

We originally had them on company vehicles on a minesite in the Pilbara, and soon got rid of them. Lost count of the number of failures up there - they were complete rubbish in that environment. Just about everything else that we tried up there out-performed the Coopers.

On balance - I wouldn't fit them to any vehicle that I owned (but I am currently running Mickey Thompsons which come from the same factory so I'm told - and am very happy with them).

[scomac]

And there I was just about to put another set of Coopers on my D4 in prep for my next little Pilbara sojourn:(

Your posts have me questioning that decision. Mind you I am running 19's and have had no cracking that I have seen to date.:confused:

Hi LGM

There are alot of good reviews on the 19's (and bad ones) but I think from what I have read on this forum is that a lot of it relates to tyre pressures. And tend to agree with BMKal of where you drive it and more to the point how you drive it.
I'm trading the 18's for 19's as the GOE's are not in the budget at the moment(or so I'm told:(). Also my tyres are nearly four years old so could have been a bad batch, the Tyrepro manager was not surprised at all when he saw the "cracks".

cheers
Scomac

[Tombie]

On balance - I wouldn't fit them to any vehicle that I owned (but I am currently running Mickey Thompsons which come from the same factory so I'm told - and am very happy with them).

Same parent company (Coopers purchased MT) but different facility.

You can read many stories of MT workers complaining of the CT quality process online..

[discotwinturbo]

And then you get people like me that have had Coopers since mid 2000, and don't have a bad word to say about them.

And I get all over Oz, but paranoid about tyre pressures....something drummed into me by my old man.

Current Zeons are only put on for offroad weekends, or touring trips involving crap roads and plenty of corrugations. There not my road tyres.

Brett....

[Tombie]

Brett, your fastidious behavior is likely to be the reason for your experience.

Many don't commit to such regimental behavior...

[BobD]

Current Zeons are only put on for offroad weekends, or touring trips involving crap roads and plenty of corrugations. There not my road tyres.

Brett....


Brett, if you don't mind me asking. What road tyres are you using?


Bob

[phl]

Current Zeons are only put on for offroad weekends, or touring trips involving crap roads and plenty of corrugations. There not my road tyres.

Brett....

Brett,

What pressure are you running your Zeon at for corrugations?

[discotwinturbo]

Brett, if you don't mind me asking. What road tyres are you using? Bob

Still original factory rubber.

Probably go with kumhos which I have had twice on my Touareg, and do about 55-60k each set. More performance oriented rubber.

Brett....

[LGM]

After reading the posts on this subject and balancing the comments I will give another brand a run this time around.

I do concur with scomac's comments re pressures and have managed my tyres carefully and in fairness the Coopers have worn evenly and without any problems over the time they have been on the D4.

None the less I will make a change, if for no other reason than to get rid of that little nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

[discotwinturbo]

Brett, What pressure are you running your Zeon at for corrugations?

Depends on what surface for the corrugations, but severe corrugations between 22-25 on rear (the likes around Rudall river) and generally 3 less on the front....and speed down.

Balladonia road down to Israelite bay, was littered with bundies and corrugations last time, and sat 19front/22rear. GCR 27/30 (80kph max). Mt Augusta north and most roads around that area, from memory would have been around 25/28.

No blowouts, no flats.

Brett....