# NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE14031
> **XZA 295/60/R22.5 Steer Tire Failures** · Opened 2014-10-06 · Closed 2015-02-27
## Investigation
- **Action number:** PE14031
- **Type:** Preliminary Evaluation
- **Open date:** 2014-10-06
- **Close date:** 2015-02-27
- **Manufacturer:** MICHELIN TIRE CORP.
- **Affected makes:** MICHELIN
- **Affected components:** TIRES
- **Affected model years:** 9999
- **Affected (make, year) variants:** 1
## Summary

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation based on seven (7) Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ) and a Police Accident Report (PAR) alleging failures of Michelin XZA tires.The PAR reported an auto hauler left the roadway and rolled onto it's side and losingsome of it's load.Fortunately, the driver was unharmed and no other vehicles were involved.ODI received ten (10) additional VOQs during the investigation.The VOQs included both 295/60/R22.5 and 275/70/R22.5 tire sizes.ODI focused on the 295/60 tires as they were specified as original equipment on many auto hauler trucks.Due to their unique loading configuration, auto haulers tend to place a high demand on front tires.The 295/60 has a maximum load and speed rating of 7,390 pounds and 65 mph when maintained at 130 psi (cold) inflation pressure on a 9 rim.Pressure below 130 psi reduces the maximum load and Michelin only approves mounting the 295/60 on a 9 inch rim.While physically possible, mounting on any other size rim compromises the integrity of the 295/60 tire.Alternately, the maximum speed can be raised to 75 mph when the tire is mounted on a 9 rim with 130 psi pressure and the load does not exceed 7,150 pounds.During the investigation, ODI collected and analyzed vehicle, crash, and tire information.In addition to sending an Information Request (IR) letter to Michelin, ODI collected information from several vehicle manufacturers.Electronic data from the subject crash vehicle showed the vehicle was traveling in excess of 75 mph when the tire failure occurred.Michelin investigated all subject tire failure claims they were aware of.In each case the failure could be explained by one of the following: (1) violating the interdependency of tire load, inflation pressure and vehicle speed, (2) misapplication of rim vs. tire size or (3) a road hazard.Some fleets assumed there was a defect with the 295/60 tires and used the 275/70 instead.Michelin does not approve mounting a 275/70 on a 9 rim.In t

## Source
- [NHTSA ODI investigation page](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults?searchType=ID&targetCategory=I&searchCriteria.nhtsa_ids=PE14031)
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