Ford may be replacing Firestones with tires even worse!

[Mikal]

Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., the committee chairman,
R-La., said congressional investigators have analyzed
the failure rates of replacement tires Ford is using -
made by Michelin, Continental, Goodyear, General,
BF Goodrich and Uniroyal - and found some fail more
often than the Firestone Wilderness AT tires Ford
recalled last month.


Link

Glad I don't got me one of them!

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Well therein lies the problem - the tire manufacturers.

 

[Mikal]

Maybe they are shipping their piss-poorest tires to Ford? And Ford don't care cuz they aren't paying that much? Plausible?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

That's true - but why would they want to get involved in a Firestone-type scandal and have their @sses dragged through the mud as well?

 

[Mikal]

Corporate stupidity.

 

[cjchaps]

Maybe it's the vehicle, not the tires?

 

[yakko]

<< Maybe it's the vehicle, not the tires? >>

Maybe it is the fact that Ford wants the tires run at 10 pounds less tire pressure than Firestones says to.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

..

 

[PG]

Ford and Firestone are going through a very nasty divorce, and both sides are trying to hurt each other as much as possible.

Over the weekend, I had to wait in a hotel lobby for a while. They had, (I think), a Time magazine with some info about the Explorer and Firestone Tires. It was very interesting and really opened my eyes.

The original prototypes of the Explorer back in the late 80's showed some rollover problems. Ford knew this, but pushed ahead anyway. As time went on, they knew they had to do something, so they stiffened the springs on the Explorer and told everyone to reduce the tire pressure from 32-35 psi to 26. This was supposed to help with the harsher ride from the increased spring rates. Naturally, reduced tire pressures aren't good for the tires. They will get hotter.
The magazine article even had photocopies from Ford documents showing that Ford knew of rollover problems. The evidence was amazing.

Now, I know that these Firestone tires, or at least some of them sucked pretty hard. Nobody can deny that they were bad, but the Explorer has some problems of it's own.

 

[StageLeft]

Its really both sides for sure. Mix questionable tires with a vehicle that has a high propensity to roll over and you have a bad end result.

 

[smb]

most if not all SUV's have rollover problems, especially on tire blowouts, when the backend begin whipping around. I think the tires compounded with driver error/loss of control during the blowout is what is casuing the problem.

 

[RayH]

I'm surpised that almost none of the news articles mention the Explorer recall on swaybar links. Broken swaybar links would affect the likelihood of a rollover.

 

[Tominator]

Ford had no rollover problem imho. They had sold too many to idiot drivers not used to the high profile all such SUVs have.

I've driven both Explorers and Blazers with never a problem and my brother has had 3 Explorers without any magical rollovers.

Firestone DID use some substandard materials. That is proven.

I wish the stupid politicians would not trespass on an Engineer's turf.

 

[RipRip]

I think maybe some of the blame should be place on Ford Dealers. I've seen a lot of stikers(on the tires) on new car and truck that say dealers need to up the tire pressure. Its like they ship the cars with less air in the tires then they need.

 

[Tominator]

It's common for any tire to lose some pressure when new. They should be checked weekly for maximum wear and safety.