Are Malibu moms and dads in genuine peril?
If we are to believe the results of recent congressional hearings, those driving Ford Explorers with Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires are in danger.
Congress caught wind of the tire delamination (peeling off of outer casing) problem only months after Ford quietly replaced tires in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Hearings then took place to find out why the American public wasn’t warned of the tire failures.
More than 103 deaths have been attributed to failures of those specific Firestone tires on Ford Explorers, with more than 400 people injured.
Complaints are still pouring in.
Firestone voluntarily recalled 6.5 million tires on Aug. 9, all size P235/75R-15 ATX and ATX II tires and size P235/75RT25 Wilderness AT tires.
Apparently, the problem has surfaced mostly in warm weather states like Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California, where Explorer owners drive at steady speeds of at least 70 mph in a fully loaded vehicle for several hours.
Despite the widely publicized recall, during a casual inspection of Malibu parking lots recently, 75 percent of SUVs seen were equipped with the recalled tires.
One Malibu owner of an Explorer said he is on a waiting list for replacement tires — the supply being insufficient to do the changeover nationwide quickly.
Several weeks ago, Ford voluntarily cut down on the number of Explorers they produce each week in order to make more replacement tires available, and Bridgestone / Firestone began flying in tires from Japan.
Meanwhile, that same Malibu owner of the Explorer has changed his driving habits, no longer doing long distance driving and car pooling in a friend’s car.
Another Malibu resident said he owns a ’95 Explorer and has been unable to find replacement tires.
“I will never buy another Firestone tire,” he said.
He did say he would buy a Ford again. He, too, is driving his Explorer differently since the problem came to light.
Explorer owner C. Erb said he has Wilderness AT tires manufactured in Canada on his Explorer, pointing out the suspect tires are only from the Decatur plant.
But he feels, “Firestone has a tarnished reputation and has damaged their credibility.”
He also points out that Explorers have suffered a decline in their value. This, he said, “Is far greater than the direct cash cost to Firestone.”
“The days of the high-center-of-gravity SUV are over,” he said.
Erb said he would not buy Firestones again.
The hearings saw a lot of finger-pointing by the two industry giants over the issue of recommended tire pressures. Ford is being accused of recommending to Explorer owners they inflate their tires at 26 pounds per square inch of pressure, while Firestone recommended 30 pounds per square inch.
Ford is being accused of recommending the lower pressures because, in late testing of the Explorer prior to its release, it was discovered the SUV, like all vehicles with a high center of gravity, showed a tendency to roll over during hard cornering.
Ironically, the Explorer had been developed to replace the Bronco II, which had the same tendency. Ford’s quick fix was to recommend lower tire pressures to give it a better grip on the road. However, lower pressures result in more heat build-up in the tires, causing the delamination.
Ordinarily, running 4 pounds lower than recommended is not regarded as significant, as statistics show that most Americans never check their tires’ inflation levels. But, somehow, these two particular models of Firestones become dangerous when the Explorer using them is running at high speeds (70 mph) and if heavily loaded.
Ford has recommended that owners of Mercury Mountaineers and Mazda Navajos should also check to see if their SUVs are equipped with these tires. The Navajo and the Mountaineer are “badge-engineered” Fords — basically, Explorers sold under other names to cash in on the SUV bonanza.
Federal investigators are now expanding the probe into other models of Firestone tires, some of which were sold under different brand names, such as Gilette Force 4, Sieberling Trailrider A/S and Triumph Ferrain LT.
After documentation was received from Ford about tire failures, it came to light that Ford recently became aware there was a problem with the 16-inch Continental General tires offered as standard equipment on Lincoln Navigator SUVs in ’98 and ’99 — 140,000 of the tires now being used on public roads.
But a spokesman said the tire maker “knows exactly what the problem is and has corrected it,” and will be able to replace the tires on Navigators in a few weeks.
Only 62 of the tires equipped on Navigators have lost sections of tread, and there have been no rollovers as in the case of Explorers equipped with the problem Firestones.
The tire recall has been a bonanza for sellers of replacement tires.
Hamlet Abramian, of Malibu UNOCAL at 21216 Pacific Coast Highway, said, ever since the story broke in the media, the station has been selling Explorer owners sets of five replacement tires, usually Goodyears or Dunlops, for roughly $95 a tire, plus $12 each for balancing.
“We have sold 20 to 30 sets of replacement tires,” said Abramian.
Explorer owners are then free to take their recalled tires to Firestone dealers for a rebate, he explained. Apparently, the rebate is not paid in cash, but will be mailed later to owners turning in tires.
Can flaws in recalled Firestone tires be spotted in an inspection? Out of all Firestone tires he inspected, Abramian said, only one showed signs of cracking.
“All the others looked good,” he said. “But we changed them anyway.”
Bill Dean, working at the UNOCAL 76 Station on Pacific Coast Highway at Corral Canyon, said he has sold only two sets of replacement tires. He carries some Remington 235-75-15s as recommended replacements at $102 each, installed.
“If people would inflate their Firestone tires up to 30 psi, they wouldn’t have to worry about tread separation,” he said. “You learn that in high school.”