I was driving down the road at 75 MPH when my front left tire came apart, now I had called Firestone and gone to a dealer to see if there was a recall and was told no.
When the tire came apart there was no warning and the truck made a viloent turn to the left, I crossed both lanes on the interstate and was trying to stop the truck from going into the center by turning the wheel to the right, NO not much. When the blown tire hit the rumble strips the truck made a right turn, this time swinging the rear out, so here I was at 70 + sideways on the interstate and yes I was on 2 wheels! I could not countersteer because the rim was flat on the road. Why the truck did not go over I do not know but the front somehow lost grip and the rear caught and kicked the truck straight. When the tire blew I was on the phone with my wife and she was yelling what happened, so I calmly said the tire blew no would you shut up and let me crash
Well after cleaning my pants I told my wife to call Firestone and ask again if there was a recall and again they said NO! So I went to the first Firestone dealer and told him he was A) going to fix my bumper and front fender that was now wadded up and B) going to give me 4 new tires or I was going to shuv the 4 junk ones up his ***. WELLL now all of a sudden there was a recall and he put 4 new Firestones on (not happy with that!) and they are going to pay to fix my truck.

Now Firestone is saying that there is not a tire recall it is an application issue and that was why they did not have my tire listed (they do now after a few choice words on my part to them, their legal department and Ford!) They said that the Excursion is to heavy for a D load rated tire but that was what Ford speced!
Ford did not list a recall because it is not a Ford recall and in fact not a recall but a vollintary replacment issue and it ends Sep 30th. They said they gave the truck speck to Firestone and they provided the tire.

I do not know what the truth is but I will say what ever you do it is worth getting the 10 ply or e load rated tire.
1 I was lucky no one was coming and that I was in the right lane on a wide road and that it was on the front.
2 Firestone and Ford confirmed, a seperation on the rear on the Excursion is a roll over 100% of the time because the truck is so large and you will loose all control. Again EVERY EX that tossed a rear tire at speed has gone over! So again your life is in now way worth the risk of saving a few bucks on D rated tires.

I am now trying to get Ford to replace the tires with another brand but was told that because I went to Firestone that they took care of the problem and Ford was not going to do anything. Now I did what the owners man. told me, it said that Ford did not warrent tires and and tire problems should go through the tire store, but then Ford customer service (who I called do find out why no recall notice was posted and to tell them Firestone was not telling people!) said that if I had gone to a dealer they would have put different tires on. Well because I did what the owners man. said I am stuck with Firestone???? It is going to a Ford rep next week but my argument when they said the new Firestone tire were good tires was then why has Ford cut all ties? If the tires are so good then Ford would have them on new trucks and if Ford will not trust them why should I? Any way I will find out next week.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to point out that
1 there was a recall and it was about to end, if you have Fireston or bridgstone tires with a load D rating get them OFF!!! Yes Bridgstones are built on the same carcase and they are comming apart too!
2 Go to the Ford dealership for the work so you can get a different tire!
3 How bad this can be, again it was nothing I did it was the grace of God that I did not crash and going 70 on 2 wheels is not as fun as it might sound! And Fors and Firestone are saying the rear is even worse.
4 Never put D load rate tires on you EX it is not worth the risk!

 

Dang!

Glad you're okay, man!

I take the new Firestones are E-rated tires?

 

Yes 10 ply E-rated but when a company lies to you so many times you lose a little confidence in them you know?

 

This is what I do not understand, Firestone/Ford recall Steeltex tire load range "D".....I have Steeltex "R4S" which are still load range "D". I've been to by both; my local my Ford dealership AND Firestone dealer the model (R4S) is NOT included with the recalled even though they are still load range D.

Daimon, glad to read you made through your tire failure without personal injury. Firestone rep told me they have no record of the "R4S" failing so that is why it was not included in the recall. I told him, there's got to be a first and just hope it's not my wife & child. I also advised him our conversations/his answers were being documented should any future problems arise.

 

Which model Firebombs were you running?

 

Good to hear you're ok.

How heavy is the Excursion?

Cheers

 

Anybody remember Firestone 500s? I had 4 on my car in '76 and one at a time they all failed while driving. Lucky I did not hit anything when I spun out. Went to Firestone each time and was given some hogwash about bad alignment, yatta, yatta. Was told the tires were fine, no recall, no problems. Right!! The government came down on Firestone because their 500 tires were defective and they knew it. Tons of lawsuits. They LIED like crazy to me and everybody. Never bought another Firestone, never would. I will never trust them again. Get them off your vehicle.

 

WOW - bet THAT was a fun ride !!!!

FYI...
The D vs E discussion is not just a letter comparison....
it's also about the load bearing capacity of the tire...
there ARE some D rated tires that handle 100's of pounds more than some E rated tires...

 

I have the Steeltex AT
It is my understanding that D = 8 ply and E = 10 ply and they are load ranges but each MFG has their def as to what the range is.

smassie88 my question to Ford is if they trust Firestone and say that I should then why do they not trust them? Ford is not buying any tires from Firestone and that includes the R4S so I would bitch and make them change them. Lets face it by Fors cutting all ties with Fireston they are in effect saying the do not have confidence that Firestone can make a safe tire and to me that means WE should not be lead to think that they can either????

Last as I found out it is not a recall it is a replacment plan and that way they can set an end date! They will put you off till Sep 30 just as they lied to me hoping that I would not die till after then because that is the end of the program! A recall has no end!

 

When I bought my used 00 Ex, I called Ford and asked if there was any recall on the vehicle. I was told there is about the cover for the windshield wiper and the tires. So, I went to the dealer here in San Diego, the service writer asked me what kind of tires I have and told me that it was Firestone Steeltex (can't remember the series) anyway the service writer told me that Ford will replace the all five tires for free. The reason that they replaced that series was because the tires constantly leaks. I was given a choice between Pirrelli and Goodyear I chose the Pirelli load range "E" because of the service writer recommendation. BTW the dealer replaced all tires even though there were only 2 original Firestone tires left on the vehicle, the rest were replaced by the previous owner wtih different brands.

 

Boy,oh Boy! I remember vividly my blowouts with Firestone 500 tires in the 70's and how lucky I am to be here. I have never owned another Firestone product since then and that will continue.
daimon1054, you should count your lucky stars and hug your family!
John R.

 

I bought a 2000 ex and the dealer put 4 new steeltex r4s`s on it, he acted like they put them on everything. I`ll be calling him tues morn!!!

Glad too hear your alright.