Faulty Firestone Tires kills over 21 people?

[ExploderOne]

Nick-

Michelin

 

[Rod Bivens]

Firestone Stinks

I always hated my original firestones, they only lasted 22k, and I had a radial pull in one after only 16k or so. Never buy Firestone!

 

[Stephen]

Yeah, makes no sense to go from Firestone to Bridgestone. Same company.

 

[AZgambler]

Got my 2000 XLT 2 months ago. Since it was special order, I had asked for an alternative to Firestones since I swore off them in the '60s. Dealer said no can do, they come with what they come with. I figured they can't still be that bad! Now I'm sitting here in hot AZ (105-115 every day) with a wife who's afraid to go more than 30 mph, a dealer who won't do anything until Ford corporate makes up its mind, and Firestone who tells me the nearest company store (who'll be happy to "check" them out)is 100 miles away from our small town.
Should note that I have 16" Wilderness AT's.
I want my '93 XLT with Big O AT's back.

[Edited by AZgambler on 08-04-2000 at 11:35 PM]

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Always hated those tires!! I had 3 sets of Wilderness A/T's on the same truck! I gave them many chances.(Firestone) I swapped them out for smaller rims (from 16" to 15") went from P255/70R16's to BF GoodRich 31 10.5/15 A/T KOs.... the firestones had sidewall problems (I had some ask me if I had dryrot or something) frequent unexplained flats, at one time I had tread seperation, the would slide and bounce over anything that wasn't dry perfect roadway, and my truck would fishtail enough where the ass-end would practically meet my front on anything but dry perfect roadway.. I was told that it was my driving... another excuse was a light rearend (huh???), another was ABS system, time and again my tires suddenly grew magnets for every piece of shrapnel on the roadway ..which cut the tread of the tires and created slow leaks....the other miracle here was that these tires would suddenly lose their "magneticness" and lose the shrapnel metal as if it never existed.... 5 unrepairable flats and never any "real" metal evidence...hhhmmmm what da ya think guys? Anyway BFGoodRich is now made my Michelin.... Guess what guys... I have had the BFG's for a year and they suddenly cleared all the roadways of metal shrapnel that I have been picking up previously (not one flat yet)... and the rearend of my truck has suddenly become heavier since it no longer fishtails (must be all that starchy food I've neglected to feed it previously), and I have finally learned how to drive so my tires don't pound or slide... I mean these guys really had me believing all of that... I plan on taking my next day off of work to plant myself firmly at the Firestone dealer that I dealt with formerly along with the old rims with the almost new Firestone Wilderness A/T's still on them and demand a partial refund... along with taking the nasty things off of the rims of course..I was wondering why no one would buy the rims...those nasty tires were still planted on them and it just ain't desirable..

Karol
explorereb96@ford-trucks.net

1996 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4X4
4.0 V6
torsion twist front lift
2"add a leafs
Gibson Cat Back
BFG 31 10.5/15 A/T KOs
Smittybilt steel grille/brush w/skidplate
lookin into the ARB new suspension lift
Jet Chip
Ranchero Shocks

[Edited by ExplorerEB96 on 08-05-2000 at 12:15 AM]

 

[RHC]

I talked to both Ford and Firestone yesterday about the Wilderness AT tires. The local Ford dealer appears to be side-stepping the controversy and dumping it all onto the local Firestone dealer. I have an appointment this morning for them to "check and evaluate" the tires. I told the Firestone dealer that my wife now refuses to drive the vehicle in light of the news items, even though it only has 22K miles on it. A local teen was killed in San Diego just last weekend in one of the latest incidents.

I asked what they were going to do in light of my wife's fear of the vehicle and was told that they would "pro-rate" the tires on the vehicle and change them to another set and I would have to pay the difference. When I said I didn't want another set of Firestones on the vehicle, I was told they could put on Bridgestones. When I said I wanted Goodyears, the converstaion deteriorated from there. I'm going in with my boxing gloves on this morning....

 

[Stephen]

Dont let them put on Bridgestones, same company. Make them pro rate the tires, refund you and go get some Michelins or BFGs.

 

[Peter Weber]

Stephen,
pro rate what? The cost of OEM tires to the automobile manufacurer is a deep, dark secret. 30% of what, $15 maybe, isn't much. Hardly worth the hassle, especially since they probably charge you a disposal fee for the old tires.
I don't think it should be up to Firestone, although they're their lousy tires. Ford put them on the Explorers and sold them to us. They should make sure that whatever they put the vehicle is safe and of good quality (remember Ford's slogan).
Automobile manufacturers buy parts from all kinds of suppliers. Should we have to deal with the original manufacturer of all of these parts directly whenever something goes wrong. I don't think so. It's the responsibilty of whoever assembles all the pieces to make sure they work together correctly and are not a danger to the end customer (car buyer in this case).

 

[ntrpriz]

Actually, the firestones go for $75.00 to the public. I think they should prorate these things on the list price that we have to pay for. Just because Ford gets a special deal, does not mean the we should be screwed. I know the price because I almost had to replace one (actually 2 since we have to do them in pairs).

If we go in there now, they better prorate them at the proper price, although, that may be a pipe dream. Also, who gets to determine the usuable wear left on the tires?

 

[Stephen]

Peter, Good point. I never thought of that. I do agree that Ford should take some responsibility for looking after their customers. However, the main fault should still lie with Bridgestone-Firestone.

Steve, That would make things much simpler. I know one member did get Firestone to send him a prorated refund, and he said it wasn't much.

 

[Peter Weber]

Stephen,
as long as Ford (or any other manufacturer) doesn't give the buyer a choice of the tires he wants on the vehicles, they should have to be responsible for them. I'm not saying there should be an options list for tires including mudders etc., but it shouldn't be too much of a problem to give people a choice of two or three. They give you different sound system options.

You can't

 

[Stephen]

Some car manufacturers do. I had a choice of Dunlop, Bridgestone, Goodyear, or Michelin tires on my Lexus, chose the Dunlops. I also had a choce between Michelin and Goodyears on my old Cadillac. My Explorer came with Goodyears (so did my old 95) so some of them do have different tires.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Since my wife refused to drive our XLS with the Firestones on them, I was forced to come to Sears yesterday to replace them. They had 22K on them. Was gonna replace the crap Firestones this fall, but when the wife speaks :frustrate ..... Wanted the Michelins (XC LT4's since I believe they are the equivalent to the LTX M+S) for $120 each. I work here part time and had a couple coupons plus my employee discount, so I figured I'd get them for decent price. Turns out they gave me a $67 rebate per tire for the Firestones, listing manufacturers defect as the cause. Not sure if it was only because I work here, but it couldn't hurt to try at your local Sears. May get lucky like me. Ended up costing me $130 total and the ride difference was absolutely incredible. Smooth and quiet!

 

[Stephen]

Wow, can't beat that! You'd be more likely to get a good discount from Sears seeing that they agreed the tires were defective by pulling them from their inventory.

 

[stcroix949]

Hello all.
Went to my local Firesone dealer on Saturday and he agreed to pro-rate my ATX tires with about 12,000 miles on them. He wants to put the Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires on. My first comment was that they are the same company but he tried to assure me they are totally different tire technology and they should be fine. I have had Bridgestone tires in the past on other vehicles and have found them to be excellent tires.
Wondering if any one has any expierience with the Duelers they would share?
Concerning the ATX tires , the original tires on the truck were in my opinion just fine, so I replaced them with another set, Big surprise, they are terrible. Caused the truck to shake at speeds over about 60MPH. Went back right away but they were unwilling to do anything about it. The talk is a little different now.
I have until Friday to decide if I want the Bridgestones. Any input is appriciated.
Brad

 

[sarkman]

Wilderness AT 16" alternatives

All,

Despite how this turns out for Firestone and the NHTSB, it looks like I am going to get a new set of tires anyway. I have known too many people with this tire separation problem and I do too much long distance/high speed driving in "hot" California wastland known as the "5" freeway to take that chance. I saw a Mercury Mountaineer that lost a a tread. It spun in through her back window and destroyed her rear door. Same model, same size, same freeway, Yikes! I have a 99, 5.0 limited with the Wilderness AT 255x70,16". I do not off road, what would be a good eqivalent that would yield a quiet and smooth ride?

Sarkman

 

[birdfalk]

I have also been offered Bridgestone tires (Dueler H/L or H/Ts) from the Firestone dealer for my Wilderness ATs. Consumer Reports rates them 2nd for light truck tires right after BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs. I too am interested in comments on this tire.

 

[AZgambler]

To those of you being offered Bridgestones, some comments from the General Explorations thread:

The tire seperation problem is not only on Explorers, it just seems more common (proably because we all drive one ). Working at Sears I have seen several Firestones, both Wilderness and Wilderness AT's as well as ATX's that have decided to seperate. Just the other day we had a full size Chevy that had three of the four Wilderness AT's that had seperated. Of the three only one stayed together, the other two did over $2000 worth of damage ($700 for one and $1300 for the other). Another tire I constantly see seperating are the Bridgestone Dueler(sp?) APT and APT II's. We have dubded them Bridgestone Seperators. They seem to enjoy loosing the sidewall, especially the 16" versions.
__________________
Mike Boyle
ASE Certified Master Tech.
'92 XLT

 

[AZgambler]

Statement from Ford (courtesy of Wall Street Journal):

"Ford Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser said Friday that the auto maker has teams working "around the clock" on the Firestone tire problem.

"We're clearly very, very concerned about the situation," Mr. Nasser said. And he held open the possibility that Ford will take some sort of action to alleviate consumer concerns.

"Once we know exactly what the issues are, we will act, because we feel a responsibility to our customers, for their safety and the safety of their families." The company also said that it is working closely with Bridgestone/Firestone and the government. Ford uses Firestone ATX and Wilderness tires as standard equipment on its Explorers, Ranger trucks and other truck lines. A Ford spokesman said Sunday that the company had no further comment on the situation."

Amazing that they still don't know what the "issues" are, as if Ford never heard of this until the NHTSA investigation became public and the media started covering it. Let's hope safety and customer relations win out - soon - over the bean-counters and lawyers.

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Well I have to say this for Firestone...They are trying to help out anyway they can..This is an update since my last post... They prorated my tires (the ones with the tread left on them (3)) and the other one with hardly any tread and some seperation just starting on the sidewall they refunded me for the price of the tire.. (which was 110 bucks) all and all I came out slightly ahead... I used this credit towards the Bridgestones Dueler M/Ts (the A/Ts and the H/Ls are now backordered until about 5 months from now) anyway....for a $650 set of tires I will only be paying $300 for them... Bridgestones are fine.... they are a different tire technology and aren't made from C class rubber (they are B more heat resistant) so for now I'm satisfied ... I'm still taking a watch and see attitude with anything automotive related anymore.

Karol
explorereb96@ford-trucks.net