2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Scary deal

[dcasselberry]

My son and I were driving home earlier this evening from New York City on the Jersey Turnpike in heavy rain and traffic, when suddenly we heard a loud metallic thud. It was hard to see the roadway due to the rain and traffic, but I knew I had probably run over someone's muffler or tailpipe or something of that sort. Everything seemed fine for a while, then I began to feel a change in the steering, and I was pretty sure I had blown a tire. We had to drive a way before being able to get off the Turnpike and check things out. We saw a Firestone store a short distance ahead, and pulled in there, knowing that it was still open, but not long before it closed. Sure enough, the front driver's side tire was pretty much history. I had just washed out the bed of my truck the day before and had failed to put the lug wrench back in, so I knew it was going to be difficult if not impossible to change with the rinky dinky wrench that comes with the truck. Went inside and asked the Firestone folks to change it. Their first question: are you going to buy new tires? When I said no, they said it was close to closing time, so they weren't interested in helping me. We walked a few blocks in the rain to service station, which didnt do tires or mechanical work, but they called a station up the road who sent someone out, and five minutes later, the tire was changed. What I really thought was funny was that this Firestone dealer had 4 big Better Business Bureau stickers on their front door. Glad to know they are BBB members, I'll be calling BBB first thing tomorrow morning and Firestone's corporate offices as well. Had we not found someone to help us out, we would have been stranded about 50 miles from home. Wonder if Firestone would have charged us an overnight fee for staying in their parking lot.



One thing I was glad of, that Dunlop Radial Rover held up pretty good for what happened to it. I know the tire is history, but at least the rim never made contact with pavement, even after we had to drive for some distance with it rapidly going flat. More rovers for me when it's time for new tires.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Glad to hear you're ok. Makes you wonder why Firestone has such a good rep.

 

[MWBrooks]

Just one more reason not to purchase their products. I 86ed them from my list many moons ago when they had their "7-2-1" tire debacle.





Mike

 

[LSMITH]

I have had ONE set of Firestones, never again. I got about the same treatment you did and I DID buy tires from them.



Give the factory wrench a try, it and the jack actually work pretty well. I have changed 5 tires with them, but that is another story.

 

[C. Harlan]

I am very dissatisfied with Firestones as well. Though I never have had a set, I lost a High School friend thanks to their bad batches of tires. Yes, it was a Ford Explorer with the Firestones. I have had to drop a trailer off there one day to get a tire fixed, and they were very rude, and definitely lost the business I would never give to them in the first place had it been my trailer. It would be nice to get a big boycott of Firestones going on here!



-Chris-

 

[Matt42]

Ah, Firestones

For years, Firestone and their subsidiaries made tires under their own name, as well as house branding tires for major retailers. (I don't know if they still do that, but it has put me off house brands forever. ) My first experience with Firestone was with Montgomery Ward branded tires that lasted 6,000 miles. That was at a time when the best tires were four ply nylon. I replaced them with recaps that actually lasted longer. I never bought Firestones again. , except when they came on a new car, where they stayed only briefly. (Sadly, Goodyears have been just as bad in my experience. )



While I was in college, I worked briefly as a tire buster at an independent tire store that sold Goodyear (a close second to Firestone, in my experience), Michelin, and Atlas. This was at the time that Firestone 500 radials were disintegrating everywhere, not just in hot climates. The store I worked at had a large elderly clientele. Day after day, retired folks would come in with one shredded Firestone 500 and four more that were separating. The shop owner would take them sympathetically by the shoulder and sell them a set of Atlas Goldenaire II radials that were just house branded Firestone 500s. I quit soon after, but not before I learned on the front lines that the tires I would always buy would be Michelin.



Since then, I have managed small fleets of 4X4 trucks used in desert areas. I am sad to say that my Firestone 500 experience has been applicable to all the Firestone tires I've seen since, except for a few sets of load range E Steeltex tires that did well. We never lost a vehicle or a person due to a bad tire, but that was due to rigid and regular inspections, not tire quality.



When we bought our Saturn in 1993, it came with Firestones which we quickly traded for Michelins. When I bought a used 1993 Saturn for my daughter, it came with Bridgestone's best. (And those are turning out to be pretty mediocre. ) But I can show you where the right rear OEM Firestone disintegrated and caused considerable body damage.



Firestone? Never for me.

 

[athompson]

Originally posted by cumminszhere

Just one more reason not to purchase their products. I 86ed them from my list many moons ago when they had their "7-2-1" tire debacle.





Mike

Me, too. I wasn't the least bit surprised when the Explorer/Firestone fiasco happened. It was just a matter of time before a pooly designed vehicle would have major issues while running on poorly built tires.



Glad to hear that you could find someone to help. It's for situations like this that I've cared a AAA card for 20 years.

 

[98rammer]

Originally posted by dcasselberry

What I really thought was funny was that this Firestone dealer had 4 big Better Business Bureau stickers on their front door. Glad to know they are BBB members, I'll be calling BBB first thing tomorrow morning and Firestone's corporate offices as well.

sorry to hear your troubles. keep at the complaints. my mom works for the BBB and that surprises me that they still have membership. too much money? or the owner knows people? i dunno. but keep at it with the BBB, they will find out all filed complaints against companies.

 

[Scot]

Back during my mis-spent youth, I bought my pride and joy. A '73 Chevy c10 Custom. It had a set of store branded Firerocks. All 4 had bubbles on the sides. I bought 4 new Firerock 500's after the second blowout. One of the new 500's seperated before I got it out of their parking lot. The rst soon after. I ended up having 12 tires on that truck in the ~5000 miles I owned it.



Never more.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

factory hardware

The factory tire changing hardware does actually work better than one would think. I normally carry a rolling floor jack with me on longer trips as I really don't want to trust the jack or the ground conditions with factory hardware when the truck is towing or loaded.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

Forgot to add, that Firestone business treated you really rotten. Unethical in my book. A customer is a customer. If they didn't like you, they should have just jacked the prices and let you decide if you really want their services. Saying no to a stranded motorist on your business doorstep is uncalled for.