Firestone tire recall: Are mine a problem?

13

Comments

  • nmotennmoten Member Posts: 4
    Are there concerns about the 2000 Tahoe and Wilderness LE R16's? Seems like they do not have traction, slip and slide on curves. This is city-neighborhood driving both dry pavement and also where lawn sprinklers wet a section of the street.
    It's done this several times, scary....
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    Why don't tire manufacturers put out the specs on tires--has anyone seen these? Also, what about the concept of warning labels by the manufacturer--e.g. if this tire is used on a xxxx lb vehicle at xx mph for x hours in xxx temperatures, it will separate.
  • lseradlserad Member Posts: 15
    I've been fighting with Chevy for a while over mine. I ordered the optional 265/70R16 All terrain tires, and my Tahoe in with Wilderness LEs...from what Firestone tells me, they're a highway, all season tire, not an all terrain. I've gotten a file number from Chevy, but no action. I filed a complaint with the FTC, but they need several complaints before they'll do anything.

    Check out the Tahoe boards - you're not the only person griping about these #&#&$* tires.
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    I believe that Firestone has said that they will replace those tires - well, they'll reimburse you for the replacements -, even though the model is not on their list (it may be on the NHTSA list though). You may want to do some further checking to see if you can get your money back.

    Good luck!
    Drew/aling
    Townhall Community leader/Vans Conference
  • pocahontaspocahontas Member Posts: 802
    I know that with recalled tires, you can go with another brand up to 100 per tire. For more information, here's a link to the NHTSA, Firestone Recall page.

    In addition, you may want to check out the links on the top this page for information about tires not yet recalled that are currently being investigated by the nhtsa.

    According to Dateline's information, Firestone will pay for the replacement of your firestone tires, not yet recalled, if the serial number matches what's on the government's list.

    Good luck. ;-)

    Pocahontas,
    Edmunds.com/Roving Host
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    in the Detroit News about Firestone's history. It briefly touches on the 1978 recall of the Firestone 500 tires:

    http://www.detnews.com/2000/autos/0009/21/a01-123297.htm

    Drew/aling
    Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    http://www2.ford.com/content/firestoneslides/index.htm
  • tjwtjw Member Posts: 14
    Good Info.
  • bshapbshap Member Posts: 23
    My Mazda Tribute comes with Wilderness AT's. I don't care if my tires are affected by the recall or not -I want them off the car my family drives in. What would be a good replacement tire?
  • pocahontaspocahontas Member Posts: 802
    You'll get some good feedback on replacement tires in our Accessories Conference, topic 262, Tires, Tires, Tires. Good luck. ;-)

    Pocahontas,
    Edmunds.com/Roving Host
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    You should also check out the very active Tires topic right here in this conference (topic #16).

    There is a ton of helpful information there already that you can read through, and if you have any other questions it would be a great place to ask. We are fortunate to have a professional tire installer hanging out there who has been very helpful to our members.

    And welcome to Town Hall!

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    The Wilderness AT tires have a "C" rating on temperature factor. See Firestone web site. The rating of "A" is the best and the rating "C" is the lowest. The Wilderness AT tires have a rating of "B" on traction. Again a rating of "A" is best. Bottom line: get tires that have "A" ratings if possible.
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    Actually, there are "AA" ratings, which are even better than "A", so if you want the best, go for those. "B" ratings are okay, but "C" ratings barely meet the minimum requirements. I'd look for "A" or "AA" ratings for my vehicles only.

    Load up an Explorer to the max with luggage and passengers with possibly underinflated and overworked tires and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

    Drew/aling
    Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    I was having my Windstar tranny serviced (I hope it holds up) and I walked into the FORD showroom. What do I see but an Expedition, an Explorer, and a Pickup all with Wilderness AT tires. Really weird.--What is up with FORD anyways.
  • tapdtapd Member Posts: 19
    For those who want info on adjustment rates of Wilderness and ATXII go to this site by Bridgestone. Click on Voluntary recall initiated Aug 9th, then click Recall news/Company Stmts, go to Recalled P235/75R15 ATX, ATXII,AT tire claim data dated 8/15/00, about 2/3's down the page. http://www.bridgestone-usa.com/.
    This is BFS web site, believe what you want, I have no reason to doubt the numbers. The adj rate for the Firestone 500's was 19%.
  • wjh1wjh1 Member Posts: 1
    Hi all. Just heard on national news that the recall may be expanded to the 16 inch tires. I have recently ordered a new Mazda Tribute which is to be built in late October. My question is will the factory be allowed to put on a tire that is under recall? Any one having to deal with this issue? I've got a letter in to the dealership and am awaiting an answer.
  • rmt99rmt99 Member Posts: 1
    Those tires are not part of the recall. Go to Firestone's web page to see which tires are being recalled.
  • mkayemkaye Member Posts: 184
    Sorry for joining so late, but with all the talk of the Firestone recall, since the treads are separating; wouldn't the tires become bouncy and the vehicle wander for an extended period of time (at least miles) so one would slow down to check. I have had two instances of early tread separation on tires and both times poor drivability was noted long before safety became an issue.
  • njdevilsrnnjdevilsrn Member Posts: 185
    Hey gang. Wondering if anyone ordered or has been waiting or got Michelin tires for their Exploder. Ordered Michelin tires from the local Costco 3 weeks ago, still haven't gotten them. Any thoughts?
  • ram4x4ram4x4 Member Posts: 24
    Hi everyone,
    I have a set of Wilderness AT's on our 95 Explorer. They didn't come from the Illinois plant so they are not part of the recall. When the recall first came out, I took the explorer to out local Firestone shop and had the tires checked. I asked him about some small cracks that have developed where the treat meets the side wall. They are about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch long and spaced about 1 - 2 inches apart. The firestone manager said this was normal wear and that the tread separation actually starts in the middle of the tread down in the tread grooves and blows out toward the sides. Most of the accidents that I have seen on the news showed mostly a clean separation where the tread meets the side wall. Does anyone know if these cracks really are normal wear or was the Firestone guy just exhibiting the usual "I don't care, go ahead and roll it" attitude that company management has been showing throughout this whole thing?
    Thanks in advance for any help or advice
  • bcobco Member Posts: 756
    get them changed now. don't risk it or your family man. firestone will replace non-recalled wilderness tires with b-stones if you want. only catch is...you pay the difference in tire cost and you pay for wear on the wilderness tires you have. for example, i had worn 23% of the tread off my wilderness tires, so when i got the b-stones, i paid for the difference of the tires when new, plus 23% of the original value of the wilderness. came out to $220 for huge peace of mind. don't become a statistic...

    bco
  • ram4x4ram4x4 Member Posts: 24
    Thanks for the info! I'm already on the list to get our spare tire replaced (still original equipment Radial AT)...I think I'll just have them do all 5 at the same time.
    Thanks again for the advice.
  • bcobco Member Posts: 756
    think i've posted the url for my picture trail album on here before. it's got pics of my new bridgestone dueler at's that i replaced the firestone wilderness tires with. i just changed the account name though, so anyone trying to access it won't be able to using the old url. it's now:

    www.picturetrail.com/bco

    bco
  • bcobco Member Posts: 756
    no sweat. be safe and keep on truckin'

    bco
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    nobody wants those tires (as you see from the posts here), they have poor specs compared to other SUV manufacturer tires, and I can't believe they would help their sales.
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    Thanks to whoever posted the link listed below. Had some lots of info and graphs on Wilderness vs AT tires and their failure rates, etc.

    http://www.bridgestone-usa.com/

    Click on :

    1. Voluntary Recall initiated Aug 9th,
    2. Recall news/Company Stmts,
    3. Recalled P235/75R15 ATX, ATXII,AT tire claim
    data dated 8/15/00, (about 2/3's down the page)
  • rea98drea98d Member Posts: 982
    I have a 78 Grand Marquis that wears P235/75/R-15 (no, not Firestone, and not truck tires.) ABout two years ago, I brought the car out of a long storage, not knowing all four tires were dry-rotted. The tread seperated from one of the back tires, and the back end of the car dropped, and the ride became very rough (what do you expect with a blown out tire?) I killed the cruise control, and coasted from 60 or so down to about 40, and gently put on the brake and pulled over. I bolted up my spare, and went on my way, dismissing the incident as bad luck until two weeks to the day later, when the other back tire did the same thing, also at highway speed. Neither time did I even come close to loosing control of my car, and it is almost inconceivable that my full-sized RWD sedan would have rolled over from tire blowouts. Two days after the second flat, I figured the fronts were about ready to go, and replaced them as well. So my opinion is that either A: Explorers are extremely unstable vehicles, B:The drivers panicked and jammed on the brakes when the tire blew out, or C: Both A and B.

    As far as overloaded trucks on underinflated tires, unless there is some genetic defect only with owners of Firestone tires that make them prone to airing down and throwing weight on their trucks, we would see this with many other brands if it were not the tires. Maybe a contributing factor, but tire problems are the major cause, at least from what I've seen. Also, evedence of tires problems is backed up by recalls in Arabia, Venezuela, ect.

    As a personal note, I bought a 95 T-Bird in July of 99 (before the tire recall was even heard of), equipped with 205/70/R-15 Firestones, and I thought enough of the brand back then that the first thing I did to my car is replace them with a good set of Michilen X-1 radials. I usually always buy Michelin or Goodyear, budget allowing.
    (They're more expensive than some other brands, but then you get what you pay for, and as the ads say, there's only one safety feature on the road that actually touches the road.)
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    Definitely rears blowing out are a more controllable situation--and I would suspect that that should be controllable with an SUV unless you're in a sharp turn or the like. If there is a genetic defect, its not with the owners of the vehicles.
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    According to the tire experts, rear tire tread separation is the worse scenario. If a front tire's tread separates, the driver has more control. Tread separation problems affect all different types/makes/models of vehicles and has caused fatal accidents on cars, trucks and SUVs alike. The feds are now investigated 20+ fatalities from Cooper tires that were put on a variety of cars.
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    Odd--I wonder why a tire separation in the front is better than a blow-out in the front, which is a bad situation compared to the rear?
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    Well, if the rear tire tread seperates/blows out in the rear, there is a high likelihood that the vehicle will oversteer. Most drivers are not experienced at dealing with oversteer, and tend to overcorrect. This of course, is what causes the vehicle to rollover (i.e. the steering maneuver).

    With a front tire blowout, the vehicle's rear end will not threaten to come around, and although it is still possible to flip the vehicle over with a sudden steering maneuver, there is less chance for that to happen.

    Blue oval news has some very interesting articles about Ford choosing the lower quality tires to save $10 per vehicle. Apparently they went to Goodyear first, but when Goodyear analysed the situation, they discovered that they were unable to create a tire to Ford's specs (and price) without compromising the tire's quality or their brand name. Hence, they refused the contract, and Ford went to Firestone instead.

    On another note, Ford Explorer sales are down 40% in Venezuela, not surprisingly. Sales of Firestone tires are actually banned in that country now!

    Drew/aling
    Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
  • butch11butch11 Member Posts: 153
    In the prior post (169) Drew says ford saved $10 per vehicle by going to fstone from Goodyear. Do you happen to know what ford paid per tire for the fstone's.

    I am amazed at what crappy tire manufacturer's buy for their new vehicles. Virtually every new vehicle I have purchased has come equipped with really mediocre tires. Maybe the ford/fstone debacle will make car manufacturer's put a better quality tire on their new vehicles.
  • butch11butch11 Member Posts: 153
    Had a fstone 500 to blow at 80 mph on a stationwagon. The tire was on the right rear. Did not hit the brakes and kept control of it till got to about 55 mph-then the back end came around and almost lost it in a long slide and then back under some control to the edge of the road. It felt like the rear end completely lost traction-on ice-as it started around.

    Never had a front to blow but I buy the experts saying rear tire blowouts are worst. Sliding out of control is something I do not wish to repeat.
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    Wow, glad that you managed to keep the vehicle in control. Yup, what you described (the rear end coming around) is oversteer, or fish tailing. As I mentioned, most drivers are not skilled enough to deal with it, which is why control is lost so quickly.

    Even though I have taken a few advanced driving courses (the most recently just a few weeks ago; one exercise focused on controlling severe oversteer on wet pavement), I find this behaviour tough to manage on a perfect vehicle. A crippled vehicle would be a different story altogether. FWIW, the stability control systems available on many near luxury or luxury cars/SUVs reduces this problem very signifcantly.
  • shayeskyshayesky Member Posts: 4
    Did anyone watch 60 minutes last night?
    Seeing the story was enough to motivate
    me to get my Deathstone Wilderness tires (quebec) replaced this week. I truly believe that it won't matter where the tires are produced, the formula for manufacturing them is still the same.
    Scott
  • ghtrapghtrap Member Posts: 26
    Even though the tires on your 2000 Tahoe are not on the recall list YET, only you can decide whether or not to bail out on them this early.
    They are probably OK, but don't forget - the Firestone corporate leaders apparently decided some time ago that corporate profits for their shareholders was more important than adding quality (or extra steps or bands) into the manufacture of their tires.

    My view may be a little slighted since I have one of the Explorers with the "VD" coded Firestones. I bailed out on them last February when we could not determine why they were thumping. I now feel that it may have been the beginnings of tread seperation. I now ride on smooth safe Michelins.

    Now, just last week, I replaced the Firestone Affinity's on my 2000 Malibu with Michelins. They are now bagged and in storage for me to use at a later date. There have been no reports of any problems with that tire and I have no reason to do such a thing other than I now have absolutley NO confidence in Bridgestone/Firestone.

    There will never be another Firestone tire on any car I own, and I will not consider purchasing a new vehicle equipped with Firestones.

    A little extreme, yes, but I feel I luckily avoided a potential tragedy when I bailed out early on the Firestones on my Explorer when I sensed something was wrong with them (remember, I bailed 6 months before this recall story broke).
  • lxownrlxownr Member Posts: 16
    I am curious, if you have a family, that is wife and kid or kids, please answer the following:

    Millions of Firestone tires were recalled for a similar problem in 1979, now twenty years later the "deathstones" are being recalled again.

    So the question is: Why anyone would buy a Firestone tire even if it is not a recalled tire, or if your S.U.V. has Firestone (any S.U.V. not just Ford)tires, why the hell have you not replaced them .......???????
  • lxownrlxownr Member Posts: 16
    What price can you put on your family's safety??
  • trenttrent Member Posts: 86
    To be honest I would put my wife and family in a vehicle that is not prone to rollovers regardless of tire separations.
  • rea98drea98d Member Posts: 982
    Like Ghtrap, I ditched the firestones on my car long before the story broke. My grandfather loathed firestones for years, (maybe because of the 1979 thing. I don't know, that was before my time) and after seeing how my car handled with them, I shared in his opinion. Now that we have this tread seperation thing, I'm beginning to think we were right. I think I'll follow his advice and stick with Michelin or Goodyear from now on. FWIW, the two blowouts I had on the rear were from dry-rotted tires that had been in storage too long. I knew the front ones were in similar shape, and replaced them before they went. I do think the tendency to oversteer/rollover is in thhe vehicle, because, although I never panicked, I'm not particularly skilled at difficult manuvers on blown tires, and I still managed to keep my RWD Mercury under complete control the entire time on both blowouts. (The first I attributed to random chance, the second to bad tires, and replaced all of them. I actually don't remember what brand the Mercury had at the time, but when I replaced them the car was really old and movey was really short, so I went with 30,000 mile Generals. Once I get the car back on the road, they'll be replaced.) If firestone doesn't go out of business before this is over, I'll be surprised. Ford will survive, although with a bruised reputation, but I'm buying my tickets to firestone's funeral now.
  • bob57bob57 Member Posts: 302
    I purchased a new '00 Sienna last month (in total darkness) and while yaking with the sales people I made a funny remark (I thought) about "Better not be Firestones on there come to think of it..." They smiled but no comment - hardly any reaction.
    At that point I got up and went to the parking lot outside - big Dunlops. Ok, I thought - no problem.
    Later, I found a fold-out for care and feeding of your "New Firestone tires" in the glovebox.
  • mazman1mazman1 Member Posts: 229
    A lot of dealers are swappingthe tires on their new vehicles to remove the "Stigma" that comes with all the concerns about F*stones. I think it is a smart move, and the dealers who do this, probably will move more metal.
  • ram4x4ram4x4 Member Posts: 24
    Hope this satisfies your "survey". We own a 95 ford explorer with Wilderness AT's that haven't been recalled "yet". When first recall occurred in 1979, I was only 13 yrs old and my interests were in the neighbor's daughter a few doors down...not the problems of some tire company that i've never heard of...so needless to say, i never knew about the recall. Now that I know about the tire problems and the stability problems with the explorer, we are on a list for replacement tires and trying to get rid of the car...we'll see which one happens first. In the mean time, all we can do is keep the tires properly inflated to help keep them cool, keep the car lightly loaded and limit the top speed. If it means backing traffic up on the freeway, oh well.
    When will you be posting the results of your survey? hehehehe
  • njdevilsrnnjdevilsrn Member Posts: 185
    Ordered a set of Michelin LTX AT tires from the local Costco 4 weeks ago today. Tires have still not arrived.

    Two questions...
    Anyone waiting/done waiting for Michelins?
    According to the counter person at Costco Firestone is replacing Wilderness AT tires on 4WD Exploders for free (the first story they told me a month ago was that they were replacing all Wilderness tires on all vehicles for free, even if they were not recalled) at owner's request. Anyone know of such a policy? (Not too many Exploders without 4X4 on them, so I don't know why there would be such a stipulation)
  • bcobco Member Posts: 756
    http://www.bridgestone-firestone.com/news/consumer/news/00803a.html

    that's their current policy. note, if your firestone tires are NOT on the recall list, you will get them pro-rated towards bridgestone replacements. unless your tire dealership is feeling exceptionally generous that is. i took brand new bridgestone dueler at's for $200 (i had already worn 23% of the tread off my firestones). i'm very happy now. you can see them at:

    www.picturetrail.com/bco

    bco
  • shayeskyshayesky Member Posts: 4
    What kind of ride are you getting with the
    Bridgestones?
  • bcobco Member Posts: 756
    i replaced P265/75R16's (4 ply) with LT265/75R16's (6 ply). the b-stones also have a much more aggressive tread block as compared to the f-stones. no drastic change in ride noise or harshness...i like 'em a lot.

    bco
  • nmotennmoten Member Posts: 4
    I changed out Wilderness LE's with Bridgestone Dueller H/L this week on my 2000 Tahoe. There is no camparison with ride...Had to pay $400, but Michelin's were nearly $600. Firestone dealers' stories keep changing. I got documentation, in case the Wilderness LE's are recalled later.
  • lseradlserad Member Posts: 15
    I'm fighting with Chevy right now about my 2000 Tahoe's Wilderness LE's. Did you pay for the optional "all-terrain" 265/70R16's? If so, they ripped you off too! Wilderness LE's are "all-season" tires, not all terrain.

    I told Chevy that I want the tires I paid for on the truck, and have filed complaints with the FTC and PA Attorney General's office. There's no way we should have to pay to replace tires that are wrong in the first place!
  • jmic1355jmic1355 Member Posts: 1
    Just replaced my Wilderness AT's 255/70/R16 with new Pirelli Scorpion AT's. After seeing all the reports of how underhanded both Ford and Firestone have been with these brand of tires, I have absolutely no confidence in any brand of Firestone/Bridgestone products. Get rid of your Firestone tires today!!!
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