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Firestone Wilderness Tires
The Firestone Wildnerness tires are not an aggressive tire by any means. They don't grab like other tires, because they are a harder rubber. Goodyear AT tires grab much better and are a much softer tread, but only last about 1/2 as long. I guess it is all in what is more important to you. If you drive mainly street and how long a tire lasts is most important, the Wildnerness AT's seemed to be a decent tire. However, if you want performance and don't mind the extra wear, other tires are better suited. And, of course, nobody wants the tires recently noted on the news.
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Here's the direct link to Maintenance & Repair Topic 1579, Firestone Tire Recall: Are mine a problem?
Drive safely everyone. ;-)
Pocahontas
Town Hall Roving Host
norm10,
I have some "E" tires and I'm wondering where you heard about the replacement in SA.
I've never trusted Firestone since the Steel Belted Radial 500 fiasco of the late '70s. I've been 'stuck' a few times with Firestone tires only because they came on the new vehicle. This latest go around has done nothing to restore my faith in the company. To their credit, once the parent (Bridgestone) company became involved the stonewalling came to an abrupt halt.
Now, my question is this; If Firestone has been building fubar tires since '93 or '94, why would 2000 tires be any better? How can you trust?
Rich
source (GM Dealer,Firestone,Sears etc.) regarding
replacement of 16" Wilderness AT's? I have heard
network news which states 'if any customer feels their tires are unsafe,and they cannot wait for the replacement program in their area,they can replace the tires at their own expense and Fire-
stone will eventually have a reimbursement program
However,no one in my area will say anything except
that the 16" tires are not involved.Iam taking an
ext.cab Sierra w/4 adults and all the survival gear to last 2 weeks in Florida, and my guests are
putting the pressure on me to get rid of these new
"exploding" tires. And did I use as one excuse to get a NEW truck, gee the old truck needs tires....
and NOW my NEW truck needs tires. Comments,please.
I just read the #9
 posts, looks like a trip to
the various vendors like Sears,NTB,Wards will take
up my next day off.Still seeking info. Thanks.worm
Randy
I want the dealership to arrange for some different tires to be installed, but I don't want to eat the whole cost. I'm already paying an extra 300 bucks for the 16 inchers. I realize that a car dealer is not a tire dealer, and probably will have to outsource to a tire dealer to make this happen.
Are there any Chevy or Ford shoppers out there who have worked this same issue with a dealer? What is the best way to approach it? What is a good tire to use instead of the AT for mostly on road/occasional dirt road use? I appreciate any help!
Ryan
Dean
Dean
Underinflation causes heat and that destroys tires. Shame on Ford for disregarding the safety of their customers.
What you have said is correct but doesn't go far enough. There is another very important factor in determining tire pressure and that is the loading on the tire. The 26 pounds that Ford is recommending for the Explorer is probably based upon an average tire load. If the Explorer is loaded with a family of 4 and the associated junk for a weekend outing the 26 pounds are probably too low.
Also, the popular press is terrifying half the population by stating that the maximum inflation pressure for those Firestone tires is 35 pounds. While 35 pounds is the MAXIMUM it probably isn't needed because of the vehicle weight. People will go out and put 35 pounds in and suddenly discover that the vehicle bounces a bit and doesn't handle as well.
I've checked the Firestone web site and didn't see any weight ratings for the tires so we can't tell what the inflation should be. And how many of us are anal enough to weigh our vehicles? How many of us are persistent enough to extract the pressure vs. load ratings for our tires? AND THEN put the correct pressure in the tires.
Rich
I will probably end up with Goodyears in the same size since they are a 114S rated tire and have a close tread design.A friend has +21K on his Silv-erado and they look good.I find it interesting that my local GMC dealer,which I have been to 10+ times in the last month....AND didn't know any-
thing about the 16" tires....has replaced EVERY 16" AT with the following-Goodyear,Michelin,Dayton
General and some other off brands.But they still don't know anything about a recall on MY tires. AND for anyone who did what I did,I paid $365 more on my window sticker to get the "GOOD" tires.If anyone gets real current info on the 16"
tires(recall) please post here,as it is obvious it is greatly needed.Thanks~~~~~~worm2.
NTHSA is evaluating the possibility of increasing the size of the recall-would hate to see Bridgestone sink due to firestone. Supposedly upwards of 40 million tires are up for a potential recall.
I was stung by the 500's also. I have F-stones on my super duty and am feeling none to comfortable.
Here is my quandary. If my F-stones were recalled, (They haven't been, yet.) would I want to replace them with more F-stones that I don't trust? Is it worth $600 or so to replace the F-stones on my own for G-years? Then, what about the spare? Is an F-stone good enough for a spare?
I'm sitting at about 42K miles and hoping that there will be some Labor Day tire sales.
Rich
Doesn't Michelin and Goodyear have ongoing programs regarding replacing Firestones? I thought that I read that they do. May be something worth looking into as they might give you something for yours.
Myself,I'm not really worried about the tires,but the girlfriend/mother nonsense is really getting old.I took mom to dinner last night,she had a death grip on the dash handle the whole time we were moving.She's worse than the girlfriend,but not much.It's really getting old quick,maybe $400 is worth it to me,if it stops the nagging.I wish Fstone would just fold.It would lower my blood pressure a great deal!
Since Billy(William Clay)Ford's mother is a Fstone,Ford will never break away from them.GM,that's another story...
I'm thinking of cutting the sidewalls out of the tires where it says F-stone and the size stuff and saving them, just in case. Also that way I KNOW that the tire dealer won't try to use the casings for retreads or sell the tires used to some poor unfortunate soul.
I figure with tax and the miscellaneous used oats it will be in the $600 neighborhood.
Rich
old 265 size tire I could use for a spare,if I had to.If I didn't have a dead PC to replace,I would just go and get the tires,and get the "monkeys" off my back!
I plan to keep the "deathsones" on until at least 30K (or until they come apart) or get recalled.
Last night I stopped at:
Just Tires - Couldn't find LT 265x75R16 in the Goodyear book.
Sears - Said that Goodyears didn't come in load range "D" but he had some B-stones at $120.
Wards - Could find the Wrangler HT in the book but only 2 tires in the building. He was going to go over to Santa Ana on Friday and he would look. Call him back....
America's Tire Store - Got Wranglers in stock for $126. Installed in about 45 minutes. Jokingly suggested that he could get me a really good deal on some Firestones
Rich
My Deathstones are in the basement waiting for the recall, my lawsuit against Firestone and GM to be filed, or my complaint with GM customer assistance is answered wherein they will refund my money ($386) for the purchase of these damn tires, or they swap them for some tire without the word 'stone' in it, ie Michelin, Goodyear, etc.
I decided that it wasn't worth it and just replaced the death stones. This is the second time that Firestone has pulled this stone wall crap with bad tires. There is no way that I will ever own another vehicle with death stones.
Rich
Also I told you that I got the M/S (mud & snow) Michelin LTX. That is incorrect. I actually got the LTX A/T (all terrain) tire ($129.99 each plus free mounting, balancing, and lifetime rotation) since that is what SAM's club had in stock. These are noiser than the Wilderness AT were on my truck since they truly are an off road tire (not as bad as Nobbies however).
rrichf, I will never own another Firestone or Bridgestone tire or anything made by these companies. Even if I have to eat the price of these tires, my family and I feel better about getting these things off of my truck. Now I have to worry about getting too close to the Ford Explorers and others with those tires as we travel down the road. We now notice every damn Explorer on the road and give them room or pass quickly.
On a wet road, they handle better than the Firestones. These are the first Michelin tires that I have ever owned. We shall see about treadwear, service life, etc...
Dustyone
Which Firestones did you have? I have the 265/75r16 Steeltex ATs, E rated, on mine. i couldn't quite tell from your posts, are these recalled?
I'm only hoping the GM decides to stop using the firestones and replace their factory order tires with something good. I used to like firestone, but not with all the 'mishapps they are having. Anyone thing GM will wise up and switch tire manufacturers?
Truckchic
You can refuse your truck if the dealer won't swap them. Truly, their new tires should be fine...but a very tarnished image.
I read a report in US News and World about brands and strategy. They basically said the way Ford has handled this has made them look golden and Firestone look horrible. Because Ford finally 'quit holding hands' with Firestone and was the first to admit, yes there is a major problem. That just left Firestone looking like an idiot, being the only ones left in the world defending their tires. A public opinion poll done by US N/W said about 5% of the people blamed Ford, 80% blamed Firestone, and 10% blamed both.
IMHO, its probably Ford and firestone equal fault, since obviously Ford was spec'ing out pressures on a product they didn't design. Its called concurrent design...they need to learn it.
Anyone else have info? I happen to own a set of these....
The 800 guy told me to take it in for replacement.
The dealer actually told me that I had caused the tread to come off. I insisted that the tread came off and the tire still was holding air. He told me that the tire went flat and I drove on it just to get free tires.
I politely suggested that he freshen up his resume' ;-}
I have the exact same tire. I bought them 'used'. they still had the knobby's on them. I only paid $95 a tire for this huge E-rated tire. I hope i don't pay for it down the line.
What air pressure do you run in your truck? I iimagine yours is about the same weight as mine.
I'd dump the Firestones in a heartbeat. The chances of it failing are increased everyday as you drive on 'em. Dumped the ones on my Denali which had 3000 miles on 'em. Who wants to take a chance? Is it even worth it? Go figure that one.
haha
(i am in no way making fun of blind people just popped into my head thought i would add humor)
Ryan
I don't see how Ford should bear equal responsibilty as Firestone. Lord knows, many tires around this country are running on low pressure(Women frequently) and have never suffered from tread separation. It's a design/production flaw from Firestone. I'd bet you could run 75,000 miles at 28psi on Goodyears and not have the problems Firestone is.
This is why all companies warrant their product with tires being excluded.