[Update 5] Shop installed the wrong tires.. Need some advice

As a sidebar, if I might..

The problem first started because Ford didn't design the frame and/or chassis correctly. The Bronco II prior to the Explorer had similar rollover tendencies.

It is true Ford did recommend a lower pressure on that vehicle as a way of getting around it, yes.

The Firestone tires mentioned also had been made at one or more factories with severe quality and build issues.

Perfect storm I guess you could say.

There was at least one book about the situation and legal battle I read, "Tragic Indifference: One Man's Battle With The Auto Industry", I'd recommend it for any vehicle enthusiast.

 

That it did, and they used the same platform on the Explorer which was one of if not the root cause of this all.

 

Wasn't it just the Explorer Sport that had the Rollover Issue with the Firestones?

 

No, they all had it in certain model years. I know the early run but I forget off my skull.

That book is a great read. Real page turner and not written in legal jargon either.

 

It's been so many years ago it's hard to remember all about it. I am going to look that book up and see if it is still available.

 

Amazon definitely has it, I had to look it up to recall the subtitle. $10 or so IIRC

I read the darn thing in a day believe it or not.

 

It's also available on Ebay.

 

Nice..I found it many years ago in a bargain bin and took a chance.

 

You guys are total thread jackers

@Burrrr great news!
Pics when you get them on

 

I was wrong on the tires, It was the Firestone Wilderness AT nit the Firehawk. The first rollover was in 1996.

 

I was going to say I forget when the Sport Trac first came out, but I think they had the situation remedied all around before that?

 

The Explorer had to stiff of a spring and shock, the air pressures on the door were standard pressures (don't remember 32-35psi), basically it was a truck suspension designed for carrying weight, not soccer mom and kids on vacations loaded down, the complaint was too stiff a ride for a SUV, so Ford decided it would be a good idea to tell the dealers to lower the PSI to 26 psi and let um roll (no pun intended), well one killer of tires is heat, and when you lower the correct psi in a tire it builds up much more heat, that is why you get loose rubber or a burn ring from a tire driven on with low air pressure, plus Ford had the exhaust running very close to the right rear (IIRC) tire, so combined with heat from running to low psi, exhaust heat hitting the tire and high speeds (only separated at high speeds), and then the tire had a manufacturing issue (but only that one tire was blowing out) the tread would seperate cause sudden loss of pressure and being the vehicle was already a roll over risk, the perfect storm happened and many people lost their lives way too early, very sad indeed.... Multiple executives from both Ford and Bridgestone were either fired or resigned to keep from being fired...
That is when Ford redesigned the Explorer and added an IRS for better ride, less roll over chance and the proper psi

Firestone took care of the customers and replaced every recall that came in for the recall... Both party's had fault in it but Food had the better layers...

Ford has asked Firestone to sell them OEM tires for their new vehicles and Firestone pretty much told them to go pound sand..

And it was the Firestone Radial ATX and Radial ATX II tires in size P235/75R15, and Wilderness AT tires in size P235/75R15 produced at the Decatur, Illinois plant were the tires in that size and type that were under this recall, no other sizes or tire models...
About all tire manufactures have had recalls, and Bridgestone sells a lot of rubber to the competition...

It is about the same thing as saying that because Toyota had a drive by wire issue that caused unwanted acceleration, that all Toyota's are junk....

Oh yeah, and this IS the reason that as of September 1st 2007, all new vehicles sold in the USA are require to have TPMS sensors... After the sale depends on state and local laws...



The following model vehicles equipped with the Firestone Wilderness tires were not involved in this recall, and were great tires...

• Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks
• Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban sport utility vehicles
• Ford Expedition sport utility vehicles
• Ford Escape sport utility vehicles
• GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility vehicles
• Mazda Tribute sport utility vehicles
• Nissan Frontier pickup trucks
• Pontiac Aztek sport recreational vehicles
• Subaru Outback sport utility wagons
• Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks
• Toyota 4 Runner sport utility vehicles

 

The problem with the argument about the PSI is that the psi they were running is still far more than what is required for the weight of the Explorer. A 1996 Explorer weighed anywhere from 3700-4150 lbs. A P235/75R15 tire at 26 psi is capable of 1753 lbs. Multiply that by 4 and you have 7,000 lbs of carrying capacity.

The argument that 26 psi was too low and was overheating the tires should be bunk. If anything, the original tire pressure recommendations were significantly too high. The Firestone tires seemingly didn’t hold up how they should have.

 

It was a combo of low tire pressure, the heat from the exhaust being to close and the added heat from the high speeds and it was only with lowered psi... it was only that one corner that blew out and it was only at high speeds... and the bond did not hold up to all the added heat... If it was only a tire issue then tires on other corner of the SUV would have been separating also, but only the one corner with the exhaust running to close to the tire and NO tire blew out with the OEM door jam psi, it was ONLY after lowering the psi that the tire failed...
Remove anyone of those 3 factors and no tire failure, again a combo of 3 things plus the construction of the tire could not handle the added stress...
And remember that FS built the tire to Fords specs for that vehicle...

 

It's pretty common for a manufacturer to have different load ratings for same size tires. When I order tires, I always reference the product number first, as that's what they should search for. If I know there are multiple tires in that size, I confirm the ones they are ordering are the ones I want. Make sure they are ordering the correct tires first, before they put them on your vehicle.

 

Remember too one plant in particular was having more issues than the others re the tires.

Ford's research at some point in the build process also found that lowering the engine a couple of inches could have helped quite a bit but they nixed that as it would have required a lot more work if not a total starting over.

FWIW there was also a lot more of the actual accidents happening in hot weather states, or at least during the hot weather in general..due to the tire heating up and whatnot.

I'd definitely recommend the book I mentioned earlier, was very telling and included some interviews from people.

 

Yeah definitely a lesson learned for everyone. I specified the exact tire size but I was never shown what was on their computer after that. I'm just thankful it was at least written on my invoice correctly, otherwise I might have been SOL

 

Truck's back at the shop right now. I'll get some pics posted up soon

 

I let out some air down to 27 (from 35) and it felt way better. I'll experiment when I get the C load tires but I'll start at 35 and see how it goes