Ive got a 93 Ranger 4x4, came from the factory with Firestone ATX. 235/75-15, best tires I ever had, got 70,000 miles out of the first set, had them replaced with the same brand about 2 months before all the questions started to arise about them, finally broke down and had them replaced with BFG`s after the recall, I like them also, but i hated to get rid of the ATX`s, just couldnt believe the wear i got out of them, especially being on a 4x4.

 

So the gov't is to blame as well, C.A.F.E. requirements killed off bigblock powered wagons,


here we go again, another gov't conspiracy!!!!!


both ford and firestone are at fault. firestone for making a bad tire, if the tires are actually at fault. i saw on the news last night that they are closing the plant where all the defective tires were made. or so the news said.

second, ford built a heavy vehicle with a high center of gravity, narrow width and short wheelbase. thats fine. where they went wrong is they sold them to idiots who insist on driving them like a car. now here's my question, did the tires blow or come apart while going down the highway at a high rate of speed, or did the drivers simply lose control, start to slide and the tires caught to much traction and caused a roll over?


so is it bad tires, a poorly built vehicle or just bad driving???

i was surfing the net some time ago and came across a court case where the owners of a bronco II were involved in an accident down in florida somewhere. they were headed out on a camping trip and had the vehicle really loaded down with gear and a small travel trailer in tow. the evidence submitted found that they were driving down the interstate at a high rate of speed and lost control causing an accident with a rollover. one of them was paralized as a result of the accident. so eventually they brought a suit against ford, claiming that ford knew the vehicle was prone to rollovers. ford eventually won by proving that the vehicle was overloaded and speeding and that the driver was at fault. but during the trial, evidence was brought in that showed test results stating by fords own engineers that the bronco II had a high tendency to rollover and concluded that it was an unsafe vehicle. this was ignored and the vehicle put into production anyway.

so, do you think it possible to make a buck, that ford did it again with the explorer?????

 

First of all 70,000 miles out of a stock tire sounds a funny. Must ave been a factory defect. The tires that come on new vehicles slightly differ from the same replacements that you buy at a store. I don't know why I just think it is how they are made when they are ordered by the millions for mass production. This is something I heard when I used to bust tires. Anyways I have never seen a stock tire last as long as its replacement. I don't even think LTX's are supposed to last 70,000 miles since the X-one is supposed to be a 100,000 mile tire. Although with the regular and on time rotations and making sure the alignment is goog anything should be possible. Otherwise some cars aren't even expected to last this long. As far as who is to blame, everyone is some what at fualt but the general public needs to know how to drive thier vehicle. Out of the 5 vehicles we have 3 are four wheel drive. Me nor do my girlfriend have a problem controlling them. I have seen explorer's and bronco II's on huge lifts and these people don't seem to have any problem. Becuase they know what they have and they are careful. Unless they are out wheelin and have a mishap. But in that case they take a loss and, well, most of them take responsibility for thier own action. I think in the owners manuals of all four wheel drive trucks there is a disclaimer stating how the vehicle handles and differs from a regular passanger car. It was on the visor of my 86 Ranger. Maybe before people buy these the dealerships should MAKE them read the owners manual so they understand how the vehicle works. I don't know anybody who has read their owners manual unless they needed to find the fuse box or something.

People who say it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

 

Just to throw in my 2 cents. I got 68000 miles from the stock ATX tires on my Explorer before one of them busted and when it busted it shredded to pieces. I had never seen a tire shred this bad. I think the tires are to blame along with people panicing. The explorer are top heavy and when my tire busted I just let off the gas and eased over. I have a feeling some people slam on the brakes and that's when the problems begin. I was driving on the freeway one time and saw a van have a blowout right in front of me and could tell the lady slammed on the brakes and fish tailed to one side tried to correct it and came back in again and started flipping over. Just a thought.

 

OK, so where can an interested person find the real data here?
First - There are two types of Explorer suspensions - and variations of both - My 91 has twin I beam, my 98 has torsion bars, etc. Also, 2wd and 4wd, Sports and 4drs all have a part to play. So I don't think it's valid to draw conclusions on blame until all the facts are considered.

My 91 handles completely different from my 98. So which model has the predominant rollover? From my experience, I think the newer model has more oversteer than the older one.

I agree with those of you who think that driver ignorance is the main problem. But I don't know what would happen to the best driver if he had a blowout on a curve at 70 MPH, and the tread separated and wrapped around the axle (on ANY vehicle!).

Winford

 

My opinion is that it is Blame Firestone all the way.

Firstly, there were 2.9M Goodyears on i think it was 1997 Explorers and 2.9M Wilderness AT on identical Explorers. After some short period of time the failure rates were as follow: Wilderness ATs (failed tread separations) in about 1200 cases, Goodyear however (same number of tires, same year explorers) had only two (2).

Secondly, Wilderness ATs are rated "C" (the legal lowest) for heat resistance perhaps that partly explains their poor hot weather performance.

Thirdly, despite someone's lament that tires should not be part of the suspension, I am sorry to report that they are one of most important suspension components. Also for the 50 lbs pressure crowd, that is probably more dangerous than 26 lbs. The popular misconception that the tire side wall contains the pressure recommendation, not true at all. It contains the MAX pressure. Vehicle tire pressure is determined through a combination of many factors, actual per tire load as compared to the design load as well as handling and wear characteristics are some of the majors. The load capacity of these 235/75/R15 tires is 2028 lbs at 35psi. It is obvious that an Explorer does not weight 8112 lbs therefore a pressure lower than 35psi is needed or the tire will wear out in the centre from overinflation!

Fourthly, Firestone's new theory is that vehicles should not suffer any adverse handling problems just because the silly old tire whent pop and wrapped itself around the back axel, what nonsense! If Firestone had their way auto manfacturers would be forced to design trucks that handle perfectly with one or more blown tires. That whould be a piece of work and would probably look more like float trailer with a steering wheel and a Bimini top than an actual useful desireable vehicle!

Lastly, today it was announced that Bridgestone / Firestone has permanently closed the Decator Ill. tire plant, need more be said!

 

I had to replace both of my rear axels. Both of them were bent.
The new ones I ordered in from the dealer also came in Bent. They had to order another set at $175. each, total $350. plus tax. It took out the vibration and the '93 explorer sport rides smooth, even with 140,000 miles on it.

I wonder if those Explorers that have had tire problems, were caused by Bad Axels. The vibration would shake any tire apart.
I guess I caught the problem in time, if that was the problem. I got 60,000 miles from my ATX's twice. And now have Uniroyal Tiger Paw's in place all for highway driving. They seem to be doing real good and have a highway tread for smoother ride.

Just my experience.

 

What about all those Firestones on Rangers and S10 blazers. I haven't heard about them rolling over. Also Firestone wasn't the only tire manufacturer who had problems on the explorers. What about Goodyear and Michelin, they were on some Explorers that rolled over. As for the tires being part of the suspension, yes they are somewhat. But if the Explorer rides like crap when the tires are properly inflated. Then the suspension should have been redesigned to make it ride better. This is a much safer and better idea than letting some air out of the tires. As for Firestones never had a problem with one. Michelins i have.

 

I think Ford and Firestone are both at fault. Firestone makes a crappy tire. Ford knew this and kept on installing them on new explorers. Firestone could not keep up with Ford's need for tires, so short-cuts had to be made. Are all Firestone tires bad? Of course not, I know of a number of people getting 90,000 plus miles on firestone ATX, Wilderness, and FR480's. But for the most part, it is a cheap made tire that after 30000 to 40000 miles gets really hard and will not wear out. What it does wear out is the rest of the car through vibrations. The new michelins look great on the new explorers.

 

the real answer....

ford puts 26 psi into the tires to "soften" the ride. the explorer IS an offroad vehicle (the newer ones 2002 + are becoming street cars however), but the explorers before 2000 are offroad cars. therefore, due to the "offroad setup", ford put 26 psi into the tires to absorb the bumps. by underinflating the tires, they would not make proper contact with the pavement. This unproper tire wear would be accelerated by heavy loads, and towing, which would ultimately lead to blow outs, or tread seperation.

if you want a good tire for your explorer, get Dunlops Radial Rover A/T. I have them on my explorer and there excellent. They do not pick up much debris at all, and are tuff as nails.

 

Here's some food for thought as well.

When the whole tire and rollover issue was "blowing up" a lot of papers released a list of the suv's and trucks with the most rollovers. At the top of the list was the Exlporer 2 whell drive 2 door. I forget the exact details of the rest of the list, but from top to bottom the vehicles where growing frowm least expensive to the most. Younger people as a group buy less expensive cars due to lower incomes. So all the top vehicles on this list where those that are most often purchased by younger, less experienced drivers. When I looked at the list I pulled the MSRP for each vehicle and I was right.

The reason I could remember the top rated suv was because I had a 1998 2 wheel drive, 2 door Explorer. I kept it until last month when I traded it in on a 2wd 4 door 2002. While I had the 2dr I took it off roading on milder dry trails alot. I can assure you ladies and gentlemen that was not a vehicle prone to rollovers. I am an experienced driver off road, on road, on the track and on the farm. I am experienced with things that go fast and things that don't(including tractors which by design are prone to rollovers). The problem with the Explorers is the fact that people refuse to act within the limitations of their surrondings. Then, when something goes wrong the first thing they do is point fingers at everyone else.

 

do you remember the firestone 731's( i think that the correct model, maybe 531's) they had lots of problems as well, recalled as well but i think ford doesn't always really put their hearts into their cars and trucks, like braggin they spent 6 billion on the contour line of cars, who cares? build me one i can afford, does what i want, is reliable and looks like something i want to be caught in, all i drive is fords, one thing about ford, i think they aren't quite as dishonest as gm but need to get with the program

 

TRUE STORY FROM ME AND JUST THE FACTS
I bought a 93 explore in 98 BEFORE the stories started(or to my knowlege) it had the firestone tires on it and about a month after owning it noticed a vibration checked the tires broke cord to make the story short after the 5 tires broke cords seemed like one a week I went and bought some goodyear wragler LT's no problem yet and im on my second set of these tires. the funny thing is when I took my old firestone tire in the said yep these was the bad dates but htey insited that the goodyears was not a good tire would cause me troubles B.S. the whole problem is the firestone tires were junk for the explorer yes they weigh more and can get top heavy if your not used to them run a LT tire (light truck) and you will have NO problem also don't buy a passager car tire they help the ride but wear out quick P.S. I have a 97 explorer now also the 97 out handles the 91-94 for two reasons better front end and the wheels have a offset instead of a in-set









FORDS always look better when pulling a CHEVY