Is it Firestones or the Fords?

[Dale Reed]

May 19, 2001

Firestone's Chief Says He Is 'Outraged'
That Ford Might Press for Another Recall
By CLARE ANSBERRY and JOSEPH B. WHITE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

The chairman and chief executive of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. said Friday he was "outraged" that Ford Motor Co. is considering demanding that Firestone recall additional tires, as the tire maker stepped up its criticism of the Ford Explorer design.
<snip>


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1990(140,000 miles), W250, 3. 54, 5spd(replaced on guarantee), new head gasket at 98,000 miles, Reunel winch bumper, extra front and rear leaves, K&M air filter, Stanadyne fuel filter and Performance Formula Fuel Conditioner, Borgeson steering assembly and modified steering box to stiffen the steering, balanced drive shafts fore and aft, driver’s side rubber mat loose to mop up the water that leaks into the cab, CB and 2 meters(KB7VEJ), above the cab aluminum canopy with kayak/canoe rack. It’s a keeper.

 

[radixr]

I think Firestone is getting a bum rap. Ford took the easy way out and lowered the recommended tire pressure to reduce the likelihood of rollovers. That means that there is less safety margin for complacent drivers who never check the air pressure in their tires. I will never buy another Ford product!!!

 

[NVR FNSH]

How 'bout incompetant drivers who haven't checked the tire pressure since the vehicle came off the lot?

My wife drives a '98 Explorer (yes, the tires were replaced) and I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the station wagon - I hate the term SUV. Does it handle like a BMW 328? NO. But it does handle a lot better than my truck or my CJ-7. If I ever have a blow out on my Jeep I'm going to roll over & over & over again.

Maybe we should worry more about peoples ability to drive a 4000 lb weapon... .

Brian

 

[bigkid59]

What is going on with Ford?

Read in this morning's paper that they are recalling 50,000 new 2002 Explorers because they were built on an assembly line in Louisville Ky. that too narrow to accomodate the new wider models. The result is that the conveyor left cuts 5 to 9 inches long in one or both right side tire treads on some of them!

Ford describes the cuts as cosmetic and that the cuts do not affect tire performance. A good way to convince the public of this would be for some Ford executives to get into some of these vehicles with cut tires and drive them about a hundred miles per hour with their families aboard. Think that would happen?

By the way, this is the second recall of the 2002 Explorer. The first one concerned rear liftgate windows that could break when being shut.

I find it hard to believe that something this obvious and stupid got this far. How can any company let something happen to cut the tires to start with, let alone let these vehicles be shipped out for sale to an unsuspecting public?

I have owned Ford products in the past, but any faith I had in Ford just disappeared with this revelation that they are shipping vehicles with cut tires and saying that it is only a "cosmetic" problem.

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92 D250 Auto Trans-Currently stock except for TCI special torque convertor. Now adding 16cm turbo housing, complete 4" exhaust, tachometer, pyrometer, and transmission temperature gauge. Injectors in the near future.
Also have 1984 Volvo D260 with inline 6 diesel made by Volkswagen.

 

[TowPro]

I think the "worse recall of the year award" goes to GM. They recalled all those new Sport Utes (forget the name) for bad front suspensions. The recall had the dealers pick them up on a flat bed, and last I heard the replacment front end parts had not been designed yet!

 

[hammong]

My parents own a 1998 Ford Expedition, and I think it's been recalled 7 times for things ranging from tires, to steering linkage, brake lines, and some emissions related items. I realize that 1998 was close to the first year for the Expedition, but such blatent poor engineering shoudn't have made it that far down the "road".

The first vehicle I learned to drive in was a 1983 Ford F-150. Before it reached 10 years old and 80K miles, it had snapped all 5 (or was it six?) wheel studs off the left front, the exhaust mainfold on the right side broke completely loose, and the frame itself had rusted to the point that I considered it to be structurally unsound. Even since then, I've boldly determined not to own a Ford product.

Dodge? Thank the Lord above they put a Cummins engine in my truck. #ad
Otherwise I might have had to go back on my Ford promise to myself. #ad


Greg

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Y2K Dodge Cummins QC 2500 SLT Laramie 4x4 Long Bed, 4. 10/Auto, Forest Green/Driftwood, 265x75R16 Michelin LTX, 6 speaker CD, Camper/Tow/Plow Packages, Westin Black Nerfs, Mopar bedliner, Ultra bright diamondplate toolbox, K&N Filtercharger, Autometer Ultralite EGT and Boost gauges in 2-gauge pillar w/tweeter, DD Stage II injectors, boost module, and boost elbow. Yee haw!
http://www.rints.com/hammond for photos!

 

[COBRAJET]

According to the NHTSA site the 98 Expedition has 4 recalls. One one hitch bolts, daytime running lights... if equipped are too bright, shift cable can become loose, and lug nut issues during the first month of production.

A 1998 Dodge Ram has 9. Hitches rusting at welds and braking, brakes and rotors, front seat belts, fuel line fittings on the diesel can leak, bad low pressure fuel lines on the Cummins, cab bolts are not hardened and have broken, intermittent high idle on the diesel, airbags, and clutch assembly.

All of this as well as any vehicle can be accessed at the following link.
www.nhtsa. dot.gov/



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2001. 5 ETH QC 4X2 Laramie, 3. 54's, EZ, Boost Elbow, DD2's, 4" Jardine, A-Pillar Guages

99. 5 PSD CC 4X4 DRW Lariat, Auto With 4. 10LS, HOT Superchip, Banks downpipe and BHA, 4" ATS exhaust, propane, triple guages, 4" Rancho lift with BFG 255/85/16 Mud Terrains, Reunel Bumpers with 12K WARN and PIAS 409/866

PSD Picks

 

[HC]

I don't want to get too far into the brand wars, but, ask yourself, honestly, isn't the Firestone/Ford recall really a lot more about our legal system and how to make lots of money than it is about "defective" Ford products? What's the count now? Still less than 200 deaths over about a 10 year period? How did they even identify that statistic as significant, when it was mixed in with the other 400,000+ Americans that died on the highways in about that same period of time? I'm happy that they actually identified a way to improve safety with a recall, but, I really can't throw too many stones at Ford just because we all have 20/20 hindsight.

 

[COBRAJET]

I have never really considered the Firestone deal Ford's problem anyway. They did say to inflate the tires to 26psi, but that psi is fine for the vehicle unless it is loaded to GVW or traveling at an extended high rate of speed. The owners manual says to raise the pressure if either of those two events are going to take place. None of us. . hopefully, hook up our trailers and leave the 45-50psi in our back tires which we run around with unloaded in order to get that smoother ride. First thing we do is get 70-80 back there. What would happen if we didn't... . a bunch of scary blowouts!! So why can't an Explorer driver or any other vehicle owner add some air or at least check it every once in a while. Sure seems like most of the instances were on the freeway at high speeds in hot weather. If you can get money for spilling hot coffee in your lap, I suppose you can get it for anything. Sometimes the responsibility should land in the consumers lap. It never will when one of the largest companies in the world is involved... they have deep pockets and are willing to spend it to keep people happy... . CJ