We were driving North of philadelphia, pa on 08/10/00. The left front tire suddenly went flat. I immediately pulled over to the right shoulder. I observed that the tire needed to be replaced. Jacobs towing was contacted to come to the roadside and provide a tire change. (cost $50) when we arrived in Maryland, 08/12/00, I took the flat to Firestone at 1492-94 annapolis rd., odenton, md. A man wearing a blue shirt with red letters "Firestone" no id tag, assisted us. He gave the work order to jeremy to check the tire for any road hazard damage. There was none. Jeremy found a leak near the valve stem. Jeremy said the valve stem is split and also noticed a "bubble" on the outside of the tire approximately 4-6 inches from the valve stem. This was seperate from the damage that the tire sustained while the vehicle sat on the flat tire. Jeremy removed the tire from the rim and inspected the entire tire. He observed a large patch of rubber missing from the inside of the tire in the exact location as the outside "bubble." Jeremy said, "it looks like your tire exploded on the inside, but I need to let my manager see this." The manager said, "that's natural." The manager proceeded to try to find various reasons for the deformity inside the tire, none of which he could fully explain. He even went as far as to state that someone must have stood on the valve stem, thus causing the damage. He also tried to prove that the hubcap caused the damage, which I quickly disproved. The manager refused to exchange the tires and refused to give me his name upon request. I purchased a "spare" for $111.34. This is the second tire that has been replaced on the rv. The first had a defective tread. The Firestone dealer in houston, tx exchanged it. It also had the same id information as this tire. All the tires on the rv are from the vdil plant. Since there currently is a recall on passenger tires from this plant, I am greatly concerned about the safety of these tires.

- Houston, TX, USA