Firestone Tires
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 18,488
Likes: 22
From: The Big, Oregon
Firestone Tires
The only experience I have had with the ATXII's is I had one for a spare once, and it seperated after about a week of use. That is the only size of that tire, actually the only tire I have ever had, that seperated on me. It didn't blow, that comes down to that whole "knowing your vehicle" thing. A tire doesn't seperate and blow immedietely. Maybe I am just unusually intelligent or something.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Firestone Tires
when a tire is under inflated it will blow. when a under inflated tire is on a suv or truck with a high center of gravity and the driver doesnt know what to do in an emergency situation the suv or truck will most likely roll over. if you know how to handle your truck when a tire blows then your truck probably wont roll over. i drove my friend's explorer for 1 year while i was looking for a truck i knew how it handled and when the tire blew on the freeway at 55 miles per hour the truck didnt flip because i knew what i was doing and knew how the truck handled. that is just my opinion.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,359
Likes: 0
From: Charleston, SC
Firestone Tires
Originally posted by mgazak
Ditto!!
Ditto!!
How would you feel if you tuned in and they said, 'check your inflation'?
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 267
Likes: 0
From: Greenup KY
Firestone Tires
Well now............my story
I borrowed my brothers truck......a brand new 98 ranger......in 98
It had the firestones on it.....A friend of mine and I were heading to the races(dirtbike) had 2 bikes and all our gear in the back...
We were running a little late so I was standing on the Go button
around 90 give or take .........all of a sudden the right rear dropped.......fast !!...... I let off the gas and kept it straight
didn't roll ,put on the spare and took off.......
Now as for the tire being LOW It wasn't......My brother is very **** retentive and kept a check on them sense they were having all those problems with them........
the roll overs In my opinion was the fault of the drivers......
they paniced or were not skilled enough to handel the situation
I borrowed my brothers truck......a brand new 98 ranger......in 98
It had the firestones on it.....A friend of mine and I were heading to the races(dirtbike) had 2 bikes and all our gear in the back...
We were running a little late so I was standing on the Go button
around 90 give or take .........all of a sudden the right rear dropped.......fast !!...... I let off the gas and kept it straight
didn't roll ,put on the spare and took off.......
Now as for the tire being LOW It wasn't......My brother is very **** retentive and kept a check on them sense they were having all those problems with them........
the roll overs In my opinion was the fault of the drivers......
they paniced or were not skilled enough to handel the situation
Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 831
Likes: 0
From: Utica, NY
Firestone Tires
but a Lawyer can't earn a nice living suing the customer (Deep pockets remember) and the news can't hype you up about their truck tire special that might save your life.
It's something we would best forget. 
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 383
Likes: 0
From: southeast,usa
Firestone Tires
I'm pretty picky about tire pressures and monitor constantly, so when I had 6 out of 8 atx's replaced because of tread separation on a 93 explorer I didn't fault the vehicle. I think firestone had a plant or two that were producing crappy tires and tried to get ford to take the fall. Fords inflation recomendations at that time didn't help. And the fact that people no longer learn to "drive" a car or truck didn't help either. This wasn't the first time firestone got caught...anyone remember the "721"? The last van I bought had firestone 235/85/16 load range E tires on it. Three of the four on the ground failed...tread separation. The fourth, a used spare, blew out while inside the van on the spare rack! I think the rollovers were caused by people who were generally clueless about the handling characteristics of their vehicles. I think the blowouts were caused by Firestone! I won't buy another. In all honesty though the Widerness 16 in tires on the wifes 98 explorer ran till they wore out. I was still happy to let the local Ford dealer replace them with a set of free Michelins!
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Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,214
Likes: 2
From: Minneapolis, MN
Firestone Tires
I remember the "721's" 'cuz I worked in a Firestone shop at the time. And I haven't worked there for over 20 years. However, I saw more bad Uniroyals come thru' at the same time than I did Firestones. Not denying the 721's had a problem, or the Wilderness/ATX. Still, I can't judge all of them on one bad batch. I shod my wife's car with Firestones 3 years ago and she drives my daughter around. I just went for the best rated tire in its class. I also had a set of Firestone Steeltex Radials on my '77 F-250 and wore them out at 80,000 mi.
Just my $.02
Greg
Just my $.02
Greg
Last edited by macguyver; Feb 2, 2003 at 01:51 AM.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,624
Likes: 8
From: Missouri
Firestone Tires
I never really liked or disliked firestone. I prefer generals for stock truck tires. The traction seems to be great, they are cheap and last a long time. Anything is better than the junk dunlops on my truck now. Horrible traction and they wear quite quickly. Especially on the back. Can't figure it out? 
Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,143
Likes: 18
Firestone Tires
i'll never buy firestone's.
reason one: the tire failures
reason two: the people at the local firestone store are a bunch of jerks and have ripped me off twice. screw 'em. they'll never get my business again.
reason one: the tire failures
reason two: the people at the local firestone store are a bunch of jerks and have ripped me off twice. screw 'em. they'll never get my business again.
Elder User
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 692
Likes: 0
Firestone Tires
Originally posted by 88grandmarquis
i'll never buy firestone's.
reason one: the tire failures
reason two: the people at the local firestone store are a bunch of jerks and have ripped me off twice. screw 'em. they'll never get my business again.
i'll never buy firestone's.
reason one: the tire failures
reason two: the people at the local firestone store are a bunch of jerks and have ripped me off twice. screw 'em. they'll never get my business again.
has had an identical failure with a Michelin, she doesn't check
tire pressures as often as I do, will that stop me from buying
Michelins? No, it was driver errror...as were all the failures that
I've seen, also, too fast for the rating of the tire is another
cause of failures, usually catastophic to boot. Firestone makes
perfectly good tires, it's the owners stupidity that does them in...
As for the Firestone shops, some are good, some are bad, it's
the manager who is responsible for the bad ones, we have a
really good and honest manager at our local shop, the parts
swappers are the problem there...
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 198
Likes: 1
From: Texas Gulf Coast
Firestone Tires
I also remember the 721's. They were on a 77 T-bird I bought used (nice car 351 modified....) I had 2 fall apart within 15 minutes of each other.
I went to Firestone and the guy pointed to a pile of tires about 6 foot high and 10 foot diameter, and told me they were all bad 721's. That is the last time I ever bought a Firestone tire.
I have Generals on my Screw, but when they wear a little, I will be going with Michelines.....I have had real good luck with them in the past.
I went to Firestone and the guy pointed to a pile of tires about 6 foot high and 10 foot diameter, and told me they were all bad 721's. That is the last time I ever bought a Firestone tire.
I have Generals on my Screw, but when they wear a little, I will be going with Michelines.....I have had real good luck with them in the past.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: Lake Arthur, Louisiana
Firestone Tires
Firestone stores are jerks ? Well let me tell you my story. Im about to buy some new tires for my Bronco. I didn't want to sacrifice off-road performance while having the best ride on the highway possible *its my daily driver*
I've been searching and reviewing tires for months. The tires i've decided to go with are the BridgeStone Dueler A/T REVO with UNI-T AQII http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....105SR5ATREVOWL
Well guess who makes them ? Firestone/Bridgestone are all in the same.
I personally believe it was a tragedy of what happened to the victims of all the accidents due to Firestone's irresponsibility. You can't blame ALL of the accidents on driver error. There are a ton of factors involved. Were the tires 100% at fault ? Hell No.... Were the drivers ? NO, it was never there fault to be riding on bad rubber, regardless of how "talented" of a driver they were. My point being, it was Firestone's fault, if their tires wouldn't have been faulty, those accidents would have never occured. Sure, some of those drivers would have still ended up rolling their Explorers, but that would have been a different situation.
I have always liked Firestone, have had great luck with them and would buy them in the future. Bridgestone and FireStone still make great products for the money.
Just my .02 worth.
JohnnyO
I've been searching and reviewing tires for months. The tires i've decided to go with are the BridgeStone Dueler A/T REVO with UNI-T AQII http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....105SR5ATREVOWL
Well guess who makes them ? Firestone/Bridgestone are all in the same.
I personally believe it was a tragedy of what happened to the victims of all the accidents due to Firestone's irresponsibility. You can't blame ALL of the accidents on driver error. There are a ton of factors involved. Were the tires 100% at fault ? Hell No.... Were the drivers ? NO, it was never there fault to be riding on bad rubber, regardless of how "talented" of a driver they were. My point being, it was Firestone's fault, if their tires wouldn't have been faulty, those accidents would have never occured. Sure, some of those drivers would have still ended up rolling their Explorers, but that would have been a different situation.
I have always liked Firestone, have had great luck with them and would buy them in the future. Bridgestone and FireStone still make great products for the money.
Just my .02 worth.
JohnnyO