30-33 is a good PSI for our trucks. How much will that extra PSI raise height?? Maybe 1/32"? Won't raise the risk of rollover more than a heavy 6'3" driver. What about all the guys lifting their trucks? The 26PSI decision was more for comfort than safety. These trucks were mainstream marketed to soccer moms and people who want cars. So a softer(low PSI) tire takes away some of the harsh ride of the older TTB or Torsion bar suspension. Very few explorers ended up offroad, and that is a niche market that would have never sold the volume of these trucks. Ford also knew those guys heavily modify the truck anyway. That is why you have the Taurus based Explorer in 2017.
Problem with 26PSI is people let the tires drop into the teens, combine that with a defective tire and high speed (over 70Mph) driving on hot southern roads you have a recipe for disaster. The defective tires would lose their tread and lock a rear wheel, it is not a simple blowout. There wasn't a question that the tires were defective, but rather if those same tires failed on another SUV would it roll. Then if you look at statistics there is a very big difference even between Explorer configurations. A 4wd 4dr had rollover rates comparable to some cars, while a 2wd sport has one of the highest rollover rates of anything. So bad tires, weaker rear springs, shorter wheelbase, less the x-fer case weight, even things like a missing rear shock could contribute. Similar to a Bronco II, which is notorious for that. This info is available online.
It was proven though that a blowout on an Explorer can be recovered, and there is video of it. There was absolutely no awareness of tire issues back then, and few people bothered to check.
The CEO of Ford at the time claimed the 2002 Explorer redesign had nothing to do with safety, but more to add a third row seat. You can take that with a grain of salt.
