1997 FORD EXPLORER Complaints

COMPLAINED TO DEALER 3/07/00 ABOUT UNEVEN TIRE WEAR; REPLACED 2 FRONT TIRES MYSELF 35,226 MILES; SUBSEQUENT INSPECTIONS AT 43,000 REVEAL HAIRLINE CRACKS ON REAR TIRES; DEALER SAYS TIRES NOT ON RECALL; APPALACHIAN TIRE IN HURRICANE, WV. INSPECTED TIRES AND CONFIRMS THAT THEY MUST BE REPLACED. THERE IS SLIGHT VIBRATION INSIDE THE VEHICLE. FEEL THAT I MUST REPLACE ALL 4 TIRES, NOT JUST THE REAR 2, AS THIS APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM THAT WILL JUST RE-OCCUR. THESE TIRES SHOULD BE RECALLED ALSO. I WILL WRITE LETTER TO FORD/BRIDGESTONE, ASKING FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: R255/70R16 )

NOISE, VIBRATION AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, UNEVEN TREAD WEAR, AND EVENTUALLY THUMPING FROM TREAD SEPARARTION, ALTHOUGH NO PEEL BEFORE THEY WERE REPLACED IN JUNE 1999.( DOT NUMBER: VN TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )

FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES (P235 75 R15) EXPERIENCED TREAD SEPARATION, CONSUMER REQUESTS REIMBURSEMENT. *SLC

FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES EXPERIENCED IRREGULAR TREAD WEAR, TIRES WERE NOISY AND ROUGH, SIDEWALLS ARE IRREGULAR, AND TIRES GRAB UNEVEN IN SLOW TURNS.

PE00-020; AFTER HAVING A BLOWOUT ON LEFT REAR TIRE A TECHNICIAN TOLD CONSUMER THAT FOUR OF TIRES HAD TO BE REPLACED. FIRESTONE, WILDERNESS P235/75R15 ON FORD, EXPLORER, 1997. *AK THE RECALL WAS ISSUED TWO YEARS LATER AFTER THE TIRE BLOW OUT BUT THE CUSTOMER WANTS REFUND FOR BUYING REPLACEMENTS. *YH

I HAD A TIRE BLOWOUT FOR NO APPARANT REASON WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM A BUSINESS TRIP. WHEN I WENT TO A FIRESTONE DEALERSHIP TO GET A NEW TIRE UNDER WARRANTY, THEY INDICATED THAT IT WAS NOT COVERAGED AS IT WAS CAUSED BY A ROAD HAZARD. WHEN I ARGUED THAT I DID NOT HIT ANYTHING, THEY STILL REFUSED TO COVER THE TIRE UNDER WARRANTY. JUST PRIOR TO BLOWOUT, I NOTICED A VIBRATION IN THE FRONT SECTION OF THE VEHICLE, BUT DIDN'T THINK MUCH OF IT. *AK( DOT NUMBER: COIL TIRE SIZE: 225/70R15 )

ON 9/1/00 WITH MY 2 CHILDREN IN THE CAR, I SUFFERED A BLOW-OUT ON A HIGHWAY @ 65MPH. I WAS LUCKY BEYOND MEASURE, TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT & I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TO SAFETY. THE TIRE WAS INSPECTED BY OUR MECHANIC AT GOODYEAR & FOUND TO HAVE NO FOREGIN OBJECTS IN IT; THE TREAD WAS PEELING AWAY ON THE INSIDE. THE NEXT MORNING I READ THAT NHTSA HAD INCLUDED MY MODEL TIRE IN ITS WARNINGS TO FIRESTONE & FORD. I CALLED FIRESTONE DIRECTLY, THEY SAID THAT SINCE MY TIRE ISN'T INCLUDED IN THE RECALL, I SHOULD JUST SAVE MY RECEIPT FOR THE REPLACEMENTS & WATCH THE NEWS FOR ANY ADDITIONAL INFO. THIS COMPANY DIDN'T EVEN TAKE MY NAME, OR ASK FOR THE TIRE INFO, MUCH LESS ASK IF THERE WERE ANY INJURIES.I AM FURIOUS THAT MY FAMILY CAME SO CLOSE TO BEING A STATISTIC.INACTION BY FIRESTONE WILL ONLY LEAD TO ADDITIONAL FATALITIES, PLEASE DON'T ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE ON THE PATH OF DENIAL. *AK( DOT NUMBER: VDHLAWR457 TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT I HAVE NOT HAD AN INCIDENT WITH THE TIRES AS OF YET. I FORWARDED AN EMAIL TO YOUR ORGANIZATION ON 11 SEPT. 2000 TO ADVISE WHAT I THINK IS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH MY CURRENT TIRES AND RECEIVED A RETURN EMAIL FROM YOU ON 12 SEPT. 2000. PER YOUR RETURN EMAIL I WAS ADVISED TO FILL OUT THE "OWNER'S QUESTIONNAIRE" FORM AND SUBMIT IT. UNFORTUNATELY CERTAIN FIELDS HAVE TO BE POPULATED, WHICH WOULD INDICATE I HAD AN INCIDENT ALREADY. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. THE TIRES I CURRENTLY HAVE ON MY 97 FORD EXPLORER ARE FIRESTONE WILDERNESS, DOT CODE VNHL, P235/75R15 105S M/S. AS I'M SURE YOU'RE AWARE THESE ARE NOT ON THE RECALL LIST BUT MY DILEMA IS THE TIRES SHOW, IN MY OPINION, SIGNS OF "TREAD SEPERATION" IDNTICAL TO THE TIRES BEING RECALLED. I DISCUSSED THIS WITH THE FORD DEALERSHIP AS WELL AS FIRESTONE ON THE PHONE AND THEY ADVISE IF THEY ARE NOT COVERED BY THE RECALL THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO. I'VE TAKEN DIGITAL PICTURES TO SHOW THESE LINES UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T THINK I CAN ATTACH THE PICTURES TO THIS QUESTIONNAIRE. PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL TRY AND RETURN EMAIL YOUR MESSAGE OF THE 11TH TO YOU AT "HOTLINE, AUTO <NHTSA>" <[email protected]> WITH YOUR REFERENCE WT20000911_0000000518 / RE: WILDERNESS TIRES (FORD EXPLORER) AND I WILL ATTACH ALL OF THE PICTURES. PLEASE ADVISE WHAT COURSE OF ACTION I HAVE FOR (IN MY OPINION) DEFECTIVE TIRES THAT ARE CURRENTLY NOT COVERED BY THE RECALL? THIS IS A REAL SAFETY ISSUE FOR ANYONE WHO IS IN OUR VEHICLE AND I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED ! ! ! PLEASE ADVISE. *AK( DOT NUMBER: VNHL TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )

I RECENTLY TOOK THE CAR TO A FORD DEALERSHIP TO HAVE A CHECK-UP. I KNEW THAT I WOULD NEED TO REPLACE THE TIRES SOON, BUT HAVE HAD TROUBLE FINDING REPLACEMENT TIRES DUE TO THE RECALL. THE FORD SERVICE TECH CALLED ME AT WORK TO TELL ME THAT MY STEEL THREADS WERE SHOWING THROUGH ON ONE REAR TIRE, AND THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY REPLACEMENTS FOR ME. HE RECOMMENDED THAT THEY PUT ON THE SPARE TIRE UNTIL I COULD GET NEW ONES. SINCE I KNEW THAT I WOULD BE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY FOR 120+ MILES ON LABOR DAY TOWING A HORSE TRAILER WITH MY HORSE, I DID NOT WANT TO JUST HAVE THREE WORN TIRES AND A SPARE. I STARTED CALLING AROUND AND FOUND FOUR REPLACEMENT TIRES (GOODYEAR WRANGLER AT/S) AT A KAUFMAN TIRE STORE. I DROVE FROM THE FORD DEALERSHIP THAT SAME DAY (ON THE ORIGINAL TIRES) TO HAVE THE NEW ONES PUT ON. AS THEY WERE SWITCHING THE TIRES, THE KAUFMAN REP CAME TO THE WAITING AREA TO TELL ME - "YOU REALLY DODGED A BULLET". APPARENTLY, NOT ONLY WERE THE STEEL THREADS SHOWING, THEY WERE SHOWING BECAUSE THE TREAD WAS SEPARATING. THEY DID NOT MENTION THIS TO ME AT THE FORD DEALERSHIP. I HAVE KEPT THE TIRES, AND THE ONE LOOKS AS IF SOMEONE TOOK A RAZOR BLADE TO THE EDGE - ALL THE WAY AROUND. AS THIS WAS ON THE INSIDE EDGE, I COULD NOT SEE IT. I HAVE MY TIRES ROTATED REGULARLY - THE LAST TIME ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF AGO, SO EITHER THIS IS A RECENT SPLIT, OR THE SERVICER DID NOT NOTICE (OR NOTICED AND FAILED TO MENTION IT TO ME). GIVEN THE RECALL, I THOUGHT I SHOULD INFO THE NHTSA. THANK YOU.*AK( DOT NUMBER: VF... TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )

MY FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES WERE NOT MADE IN THE DECATUR IL THAT IS FAULTED IN THE RECALL FROM FIRESTONE. MY TIRES WERE IN AT THE JOLIETE PLANT IN CANANDA. I HAD TO REPLACE MY TIRES BECAUSE THE TREAD WAS BEGINING TO SEPARATE FROM THE TIRE. HOW DO I GO ABOUT GETTING REIMBURSED FROM FIRSTONE SINCE THE CALL DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL OF THE WILDERNESS FRISTONE AT TIRES?( DOT NUMBER: VNHL IPY TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )