Recalling 15's and NOT 16's??

[KodeBlu]

Not trying to be pessimistic but is it really safe to 'assume' that ALL of the Explorers that had their tire(s) seperate were riding on 15" Firestones? I find that kind of hard to believe with the number of Sports, E.B.'s and Ltd's with 4 wheel drive and 16" tires out there. Is Firestone fixing only half of the problem??

 

[mmpc]

Agreed...

My prediction: Firestone is going to attempt to get away with replacing only size 15s (and who can blame 'em for trying). But I think there will be considerable uproar about that and they'll eventually be forced to add the 16s to the list. I hope...

 

[rock883]

Maybe the 16's weren't made in the same factories as the 15's. Seeing as the tires are only being taken from certain factories.

 

[Ray Bates]

They get are hopes up for replacement, then say it's only the P235/75R15 tires in the recall. What's that all about? There may not be as many 16" as 15", but we know they are out there. We haven't seen the last of this. Even though they say it's only the 15's, I can't honestly say I trust my 16's. This afternoon, I'm planning on going to a tire place other than Firestone for a hopefully unbiased opinion. BFGs may be the near future.

 

[rustytr]

I can't get new ones on my sport, but my ranger can

 

[Ice]

Bridgestone's in Australia

Hi
Bridgestone's Australian hot line phone number is 1800354864. Todate they will only replace the 15's but it is interesting that they were not replacing Wilderness tyres which were marked "Special Duty".
I pointed out that my other four older tyres were not marked Special Duty and that they were 16". The reply was that they were not replacing 16's as they were safe.
I will be getting some legal advice on that one tommorrow and if this results in a letter of demand I will post a copy here for general distribution.

Good Luck to all size 16 owners.

Ian

[Edited by Ice on 08-10-2000 at 11:03 PM]

 

[Guerilla Biscuits]

My friend's Ranger has 14's. Is he out of luck? They are Wilderness HT's.

 

[Xplor]

Hey people, the 16 Wilderness I have sucks, since it has the "VD" on them. I went to my favorite tire place (Discount Tire Company) to have my tires balance and rotated. They ask if they were the recalled P235/75R15, I said no and that they were the 16inch size. So they put in on the lift and by the time they took one of the tires off, they came to me and said that they can't touch the "VD" stapped tire. So they put the tire back on and went to a another place. This time I asked them first that I have the 16inch tres and same the answer!..Can't touch it! I went to Firestone place and of course they where in Explorer Yard in the lot with the recalled 15s. So anybody know fo r he fact that Firestone might recall the 16s soon??

 

[Eagle]

Not yet

I have the 16 inch on my Sport with the tall tail signs of tread separation. I went to a firestone dealer and they told me that they are not replacing the 16 inch tires. After I pointed out the obvious defect on the tire he said there is nothing he can do. So I went to FORD :fire: for my 40,000 mile check up and wouldn’t ya know when I picked up my truck the paper work stated that my tires are fine. I can just smell a lawsuit. Firestone better get their heads out of their @#% and do the right thing. I know that I will NEVER buy another firestone product again. Just think of their lost customer base.

 

[Stephen]

Firestone

I actually think Firestone is being fantastic about this whole deal. They've agreed to let Ford replace the tires at cost to them with their competitor's tires, they've offered VERY good pro rated refunds on the tires, hell they've even offered to pay if you've ALREADY replaced your tires. You don't get better customer service like that in today's world. You just have to realize that there are MILLIONS of people trying to get this done. They can only do SO MUCH at one time.

Here's my reccomendation, cough up and have new tires put on your trucks. When Firestone recalls YOUR tires, they will tell you to send them the bill and they will reimburse you.

 

[KodeBlu]

just a thought......

I recently saw a news clip where a Firestone employee said that ALL of the Wilderness tires were manufactured the same way, REGARDLESS of the size. So my thinking is this....Firestone is trying to get by with just recalling the 15's on Mountaineers, Explorers and Rangers. They do not want to recall the 16's because it will open a whole new can of worms. Firestone knows that if they do recall them, not only will it cost them much, much more money, but that it will also affect the numerous owners of the Expeditions and F series pickups that have the P255/70R16 Wilderness tires (the same ones we have).

Does anyone know if the 235/75-15's are still being produced at the Decatur, Illinois plant. The reason I ask is because Firestone has kicked up the production of it's tires to meet the demand of the recall. But they never said that they found the reason or cause for the tread seperation other than the heat factor. That being the case...if they have not changed their rubber composition and/or vulcanizing proccess, are they just producing more of the same faulty tires that will seperate when it gets too hot??

Just my 2 cents

 

[Stephen]

Well, one main problem with that. There have been no instances of 16 inch tires seperating. As for the new tires, they blamed the relief workers during a 1995 strike for cutting corners on tire assembly. Those workers are gone. However I did think about that, if they increased production, aren't they rushing? And usually rushing leads to mistakes.