Fools on Firestones - Take 2!!!

[Drew98xlt]

I don't know who is buying Explorer tires these days, but it's not me. There is not a 255/70-16 tire to be found in this country. Also, larger tire dealers won't deviate from Ford's "Approved" list for fear of legal action. Tirerack won't sell anything but the approved tire and their list is 6 mos long or more. Just talked to a local shop and his goodyear distributor has nothign and will not quote a backorder date.

Is anyone else having this kind of trouble?

 

[ok89]

Today I went in to Discount Tire Co. and told them i wanted the bfg long trail ta. They said that they would get it from the warehouse and i should get it in about 2 hours. They said that the Long Trail is not a popular tire. But I'm getting my new tires today and not gonna have to wait 6 months for tires. But i am ending up paying about 130 due to road hazard warranty and lifetime rebalancing

 

[tbomb]

i just got my goodyear wrangler rt/s's installed last monday (265 70 r16), but i had to wait like 3 weeks for the tire palce to get them in - i paid $137/tire, plus mount and balance. they said goodyear told their dealers to put all tire orders on hold for a little while because ford needs huge quantities of goodyears for new vehicles.

only advice i have is to be persistent...a pain in the @$$ even.

 

[DarkFox1]

I had a similar experience back when I got off my firestones. I got mine fixed early on in the battle, and was trying to get some BFG ATs.. but everyone was out of them except one local tire shop. The shop told me they would not sell them to me because they were a "truck tire" and that suvs "need street tires to keep from being unstable" they tried to sell me some michelin ltx m/s, but I said no.. I later went to my dealership and talked to them, essentially, they told me I either get the michelins, or I had to pay full price for what I get.. so I've been riding on the michelins ever since. They're not bad tires, but don't even look at a dirt road while on them.. you'll probablly get stuck

 

[leenjen]

i thought the only difference between light truck and passenger car tires is a stiffer sidewall. why would that make an SUV unstable? i had LT tires on a plymouth reliant station wagon that i had a few years back. there were no problems with stability there.

 

[ok89]

if you look some of the tires up on the list they are lt tires

 

[airportdave]

Try Kelly Safari AWR's

I just purchased a used 2000 EB Explorer from our local Ford dealer, which still had the 255/70/16 Wilderness AT's on them.

After the dealer said I'd have to wait several months to get Ford to replace the tires with an "approved tire", I opted to replace them myself and get reimbursed.

One of our small town tire shops had plenty of Kelly Safari AWR's (LT) in that size in stock, so I opted to go with those and get reimbursed. So far they've proven to be a great tire. They look sharp, are relatively quiet and smooth on the highway, and work great off road as well.

Kelly is a part of Goodyear, and several friends recommended them highly, so I felt comfortable not waiting. Interestingly, I received my $130 per tire reimbursement from our local Ford dealer just five days after filling out the paperwork and turning in the DOT codes!!

 

[Flounder]

I'm running Kelly Safari's and I second your opinion.

 

[xwhaler]

Hey Guys,
Sort of Related to this topic. Ive heard that Ford wants Firestone to do more extensive recalls on their Wilderness tires. Im currently running the Wilderness HT tires and was kinda hoping I could get some new ones. Anyone heard anything about this?
Thanks in Advance