Your opinion of Firestone? Hope you aren't driving an old explorer!

[Wcross]

Ford Explorer Rollover - Blame is now being placed on Ford Motors for the unusually high amount of accidents involving the Ford Explorer. Based on a report by the Washington Post, citing analysis of national and Florida crash statistics, the Ford Explorer, even when fitted with tires other than Firestone, has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport utility vehicles. According to the report Ford Explorers with Goodyear tires have been linked to 101 deaths nationwide.

http://www.usalawyernetwork.com/New%20Jersey/overview.htm?topic=Ford%20Explorer%20Rollover

I work for Bridgestone/Firestone so I am biased but I feel vindicated in my belief it wasn't a tire issue.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I damn-near rolled over in a friend's Explorer that did not have Firestone

tires. I never thought it was the tires, either. I always thought it was more about the design of the vehicle.

[aden_nak]

2. It was a combo.

Firestone was using a cheap-ass method for producing the tires that made the rubber less stable. However, Ford was paying NO attention to safety in the production of their vehicles, especially the Explorer. In particular, Ford underinflated tires on the Explorer to improve the ride, even though they knew full well it was dangerous. The standard for the Firestones that came with the Ford Explorer was 33 psi, I believe they were selling them off the lot at something like 27 psi or less.

I've seen roll-bar tests of an Explorer, even with non-Firestone tires. For those of you that don't know, that's when they strap a huge horizontal bar to the vehicle that sticks far out on the left and right sides. If the vehicle tilts too far to the left or right, the bar hits the ground. This represents the angle at which the vehicle is in danger of rolling over. The Ford Explorer failed the roll-bar tests under NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS.

Found On Road Dead
Fucked On Race Day
Fix Or Repair Daily

Have YOU driven a FORD lately?

[Wcross]

4. I disagree

If any of my family members owned an explorer and refused to sell it I would light it on fire. I hate to say it but more people are going to die on the "better" replacement tires.
Bridgestone/Firestone had the misfortune of being the main supplier for the Ford explorer.
"Firestone was using a cheap-ass method for producing the tires that made the rubber less stable."- Because our cheap-ass customer (ford) wanted cheap tires.

Ford could have requested a spiral layer construction tire but opted to save the expense (a buck per tire). Even if they had requested the more expensive tire, people would have rolled their explorers.

"Ford under inflated tires on the Explorer to improve the ride, even though they knew full well it was dangerous."

The reason they specified a lower inflation was the center of gravity was too high. They built the explorer on the ranger pickup frame. It would have been costly (again money over safety) to modify the frame of the ranger to lower the engine and achieve a safe center of gravity.

I hope the guys at Ford can sleep well at night knowing their quest for profits resulted in avoidable deaths.

[aden_nak]

6. Don't get me wrong. . .

I hold Ford 90% responsible for the problems with the tires. Their design was unintelligent and they didn't want to go back and draft it. Nor could they recall that many vehicles for such a massive problem and still make money.

That being said, Bridgestone had one factory that was using an alternate method of vulcanization for this particular model tire, and it was consistantly proven to deteriorate under exposure to heat and stress more readily. It also was slated to save Bridgestone considerable money, since the new method cost far, far less.

However, as I said, Ford deserves the lion' share of the blame.

[denverbill]

3. I never blamed Firestone myself.

It sounded all along to me like Ford was deflecting the blame.

[Wcross]

8. It would have put Ford under if they had to recall the explorer.n/t

[DS1]

5. Is there any difference between Bridgestone and Firestone tires?

I'm absolutely in love with the Potenza All-Weather (still on outdated RE92) series, but if Firestone make an identical version for a few dollars less I'd be willing to give them a try..

[Wcross]

18. Just designs

They are made in the same factories using more or less the same materials. If you live in a snowy climate- the Blizak(sp) are an excellent tire in snow and ice.
When it comes to buying new tires for my truck, I am going to go with Firestone's.

[DS1]

24. Thx for the info. I'd love a pair of Blizzaks, but I don't have the money

to be switching back and forth *sigh*

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. I would never buy another Ford...but enlighten me.

I never bought the Firestone blame game that went on. Maybe you can enlighten me. It has been my understanding that Ford, using sales pressure, forced Firestone to drop the original suggested tire pressure so that the explorer (badly designed) rode better. Firestone should not have given in to those tactics but they did it so not to lose all the Ford business. The lower pressure in the tires increased the heat which in turn caused the bad batch of adhesive to fail. This was one of the reasons that a majority of the failures were in the warmer south.

Is this generally the drift of what happened? I got so pissed at Ford for trying to shift the blame I swore they would not get any money from me. Was I wrong?

[Wcross]

9. You have it partially right.

It wasn't bad adhesive. The tires did not have a spiral layer as a barrier between the steel belts and the tread. The lower tire pressure decreased the rated load of the tire along with increasing heat build up.

It all boils down to bad decisions. My fear is the people that own these things thinking they are "safe" now that they have different tires.

[CO Liberal]

10. Here's an Old Explorer

Ponce de Leon:



Source: http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/

[avb7]

11. Not to be difficult but.....

I've had 2 brand new Explorers, a 95 and a 98 and I put huge miles on both of them, over 125,000 on the 95 and 150,000 on the 98. No major problems with either of them. As for the Firestones, the ones I had were as good as any tires I ever had. Took advantage of the recall twice and they wore like iron. I don't work for Ford or Firestone and I'm not a stockholder in either company. Just wanted to say that my experience was completely at odds with what I read here.

[CO Liberal]

12. Looks Like You Were Lucky

I don't lnow about the studies or the stats, but I've been commuting between Pueblo and Colorado Springs on I-25 daily since early 1998. I've seen more than my share of rollovers. And many of them were Ford Explorers.



Source: http://www.suv-rollover.net/

[Wcross]

19. I am pleased that you have survived!

Do you live in a hot climate? Do you do much highway driving? All I am saying is the explorer has a greater chance of rollover than other vehicles regardless of what tires are on them.
A vehicle shouldn't roll if it has a tire failure, if it was normal they would put body bags where the spare tire is.

[displacedtexan]

13. My daddy always said...

Buy tires with the word "Good" on them.

FYI, the Firestone tires in those accidents were made by scab labor at the Decatur, IL plant. (I lived near there at the time and kept up with the strike and subsequent tire-related accidents).

[Wcross]

20. I agree about the scab labor.......

Did you know read the original post- 101 deaths with GOODyear tires on the explorer? The way Bridgestone/Firestone handled the strike in Decatur was a disgrace, the factory was closed and everybody lost. We still have unionized plants (mine included) that provide good jobs and benefits for workers.

[MercutioATC]

14. I'll never buy Firestone/Bridgestone tires again (or a Ford).

Not because I think they're not safe, but because of the way they handled the Explorer fiasco. They let people die when they knew there was a problem rather than issue a full recall. I can't support that kind of behavior.

(I also boycott SBC because their customer service absolutely sucks)

[BiggJawn]

15. I had a LOT of blow-outs back in the 80's...

Hey, it was the Ray-Gun Era. I had to run the damn things till the strings showed. I lived to tell about it.

I remember somebody telling me I was in danger because they thought I had those Firestone tyres on my Ranger. I was all "What? You never had a blow-out before? They're not ALWAYS fatal..."

I think the bulk of the problem was operator error. I've seen people, a tyre pops, and they STAND on the brakes and cut the wheel for the shoulder instantly. Why? I dunno, maybe they're afraid of losing a wheel cover or something. Hit the brakes hard and cut the wheels....With a blown tyre. Sure, you'll put it on it's top doing that, I think....

That, and a top-heavy vehicle, too....

[Devil Dog Dem]

16. Firestone: the Wilderness AT was a defective tire. Period.

NHTSA did an exhaustive study, and the tire was to blame.

Other tires on the Explorer did not suffer the same astronomical rate of radical detread that the Firestone tires did, even at the supposedly lower air-pressure rates that Ford recommended; and the Explorer (at least the models during the 1990s) were middle of the road for rollover stats on SUVs.

However, the Firestone Wilderness AT was having high rates of detread on ALL vehicles that used them; Ford just had the misfortune of using them in high numbers on the Explorer.

I'm on my second Explorer, and I'd buy another if I bought another SUV.

That being said, the Wilderness tire was a quiet, smooth-riding tire and it was great for going through mud. The Goodyear tire I have is loud and bumpy and not as rugged for off-roading. But I don't worry about detreads with that tire.

[Wcross]

21. Happy trails..........

I wouldn't own an explorer if it was free. A vehicle shouldn't roll over if the tire fails. It was a bad choice of tire for an unstable vehicle. I guess we can agree to disagree. Time will tell.

[Devil Dog Dem]

22. It isn't simply that a fire "failed" that caused the vast majority . . .

of rollovers. It was traumatic tread separations (or "blowouts") at high speeds that lead to the rollovers.

The way it worked was like this: a "blowout" happens, say on the right side. You now have increased drag on that side, drastically slowing it down from say 50 MPH to 35 MPH, while the left side stays at the same speed. This causes the car to spin and go forward sideways, causing more friction on the ground and then a rollover.

In any event, the rate of rollovers on other SUVs (which are inherently less stable than cars and pickup trucks) with Firestone Wilderness tires was no less than those of the Explorer.

[Devil Dog Dem]

17. I'm sorry, but this site is to a plaintiffs' law firm and it cites . . .

to a Washington Post "study" that gives no evidence. Government data contradicts this, and as a WP reader, I still won't fogive them for their "Bush Would Have Won Recount" BS reporting. I'd have to see the raw numbers before I gave ANY weight to this article that isn't even included at the law firm's site.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

23. I know a man who was in a rollover with his wife

She was decapitated. He was devistated.