The Firestone ATX radial tire is an all terrain tire with an aggressive
tread pattern. When underinflated it will run hotter than a street tires.
The recalled tires tread has separated from the casing of the tire, with a
higher instance of failures in the hotter climates. Firestone recommends a
cold inflation pressure of 30 psi minimum, however when Ford tested the
Explorer with the tires at this pressure, they tended to roll over easier.
When inflated to 26 psi, the Explorer demonstrated better stability. So
without consulting Firestone, Ford listed the inflation recommendation at 26
psi. It has been argued back and forth as to whether or not this has
contributed to the failure rate of these tires. The first reports of
failure were in the middle east, where tire pressures are often lowered for
driving in sand, and then not re-inflated when returned to use on hard
surfaces. Unrelated failures also turned up in Brazil where a separate
factory had been leaving out one of the nylon belts. Ford and Firestone
both failed to notify the DOT that it had been replacing the faulty tires in
these other countries. In the US, the greatest number of failing tires were
manufactured at the Decatur plant during a strike, leading to accusations of
quality control. I can't find the specific data now, but I recall that the
failure rate for the average tire is one per million, and the related ATX
and Wilderness 235 15" tires is running at 3 per million.
David Riker
74 Midget
63 Falcon
70 Torino
http://personalweb.sunset.net/~davidr
----- Original Message -----
From "Steven Fooshee" <sfooshee at home.com>
Cc: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 8:07 AM
Subject: Re:NLBC: Was Front suspension rebuild, now product liability
> Swift Justice wrote:
> >
> > Steve.
> > Doesn't have a Pinto or any Ford
> > No Firestone Wilderness ATX tires
> > Heavily insured.
> > --
> > __________________________________________________
> >
> > Steve McGee, Atty. at Large
> > Samesq@pacbell.net
> > Home Page: http://home.pacbell.net/samesq
> > Photo Album: http://members2.clubphoto.com/steve191750/
> > __________________________________________________
> >
> > Life is unpredictable. Eat dessert first.
>
> Since we're off the subject here, I'm curious if anyone knows any
specifics
> about this ATX tire thing. Are these tires giving out under normal driving
or
> are they blowing because they're underinflated and being run above their
speed
> rating and designed operating temperature? I haven't really been paying
> attention to the news, I just point and laugh at Exploders when I see them
in
> traffic. :)
>
>
> --
> ~
>
> '90 GS-500E: Faster than a newbie on an FZR-600.
> '87 RX-7 TII: Faster than a *DORK* on a Valkyrie.
> MCMLXIX Sprite: Faster than UPS ground.
> "Yeah, well, Stirling Moss is bald, too. Dammit."
>
> ~
>
|