Last week Ford announced another sweeping tire recall for their light trucks & SUV's including the popular Exolorer. Conjuring up memories from last summer's recall, this round comes under the shadow of Firestone's announcement the previous week that they would no longer supply tires to Ford. So where does this leave the consumer?
This years recall differs slightly from that of last year in that last summer's round of recall involved only the Firestone AT tires made in a certain plant and mounted on vehicles in mostly Southern (hotter) states. The current recall covers the entire Firestone Wilderness line on vehicles across the country. Drivers have the option of either returning to their local Ford dealer to have their tires replaced at no charge or may purchase tires from another source. If they opt to buy tires from a tire dealer the vehicle owner must take the old tires and a receipt to their local Ford dealer and will be reimbursed up to $110 per tire. If last summer's recall is any indication of how the new round of recalls will go these tires will become scarce very quickly so I would advise consumers to take care of this matter ASAP.
The question arises as to what Firestone's responsibility is in this matter. And why have they severed their long (95 year) relationship with Ford? I think that the answer lies in the fact that Firestone and its associate dealers felt that Ford used them as a whipping boy in the last round of recalls. Ford laid the blame for tire failures at Firestones feet and took none of the blame themselves, even though Ford's recommended tire pressure on the Explorer was under the amount needed to safely run a tire at highway speed. Why did Ford do this? Because the Explorer experienced roll over problems in testing and rather than spend a lot of money redesigning the suspension system executives at Ford opted for the lower air pressure solution. The lower the pressure in a tire the hotter it gets and thus the easier it is for the tire to fail.
I would look for Ford to pick up a new primary tire supplier fairly quickly, preferably Michelin, but possibly Goodyear or Bridgestone, which is, by the way, Firestone's parent company.
