Firestone Firehawk GTA-02 Recalled

Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.

Models: Firestone Firehawk GTA-02

Number Involved: 93,000

Dates of Manufacture: July 1999 - November 2000

Defect: Certain size Firehawk P205/55R16 89H tires, produced at the Wilson, N.C., plant, may develop shoulder area cracking with increasing mileage. Continued use of a tire with this condition may lead to exposure of the belt edge. Under these circumstances, a belt edge separation is possible, which could result in loss of tire pressure. These tires were installed as original equipment on certain model year 2000 and 2001 Nissan Altima SE passenger cars. The recalled tires are identified by DOT serial #W2 T2 VF3 XXX or W2 T2 VF3 XXXX; where XXX may be 289, 299, 309, 319, 329, 339, 349, 359, 369, 379, 389, 399, 409, 419, 429, 439, 449, 459, 469, 479, 489, 499, 509, 519, 529, 010, 020, 030, 040, 050, 060, 070, 080, 090, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 170, and where XXXX may be 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500, 2600, 2700, 2800, 2900, 3000, 3100, 3200, 3300, 3400, 3500, 3600, 3700, 3800, 3900, 4000, 4100, 4200, 4300, 4400, and 4500.

Remedy: Firestone will notify owners to bring in their vehicles to an authorized Firestone dealer for free replacement tires. Owner notification is expected to begin March 12, 2001. Owners who do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact Bridgestone/Firestone at 1-800-465-1904.

[NHTSA Recall No. 01T006]