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I was perplexed when I saw the Firestone ATX tire recall, as my Explorer had those tires on it. Yes, and sadly, the Firestone ( Bridgestone? ) radials which came standard on the two wheel drive Exporer Sport, which does the non-four wheel drive desert duties and errands not suited for the car, were stamped with the covered lot numbers. What surprized me was that we had gotten more than sixty thousand miles on them and there seemed to still be half the tread life left to go? What made me step back and count my lucky stars was that upon close inspection all of them had tread separations, three with complete three hundred sixty degree cracks on both the inside and outside tirewalls!
Here are the hard cold facts, for anyone interested:
The first day I drove the 1993 Explorer Sport, I drove it to the gas station and filled the tires to thirty-two PSI warm. I never looked at the label in the door jam to see the twenty-six PSI suggested tire pressure until after I heard about the recall. I then let out some air from the rear, but not to less than thirty PSI. Over the years, the tire pressure varied slightly as situations presented themselves, but the tires normally were operated at over thirty PSI. This vehicle was driven aggressively, and on a few occasions, in the middle of nowhere and in the wee hours of the morning, quite fast. There was never any leaking or punctures ( flats ), though I was beginning to think the front wheel bearings needed lubrication because of what I now know was tire noise and vibration from the separating ATXs!
We immediately called Firestone and got on a waiting list for five replacement tires. Luckily, I had two other vehicles at my disposal, so the Explorer sat in the driveway for the month-long wait for the telephone call from my local Firestone tire dealer. Finally, the tires were replaced with Uniroyal Tiger Paws of the same exact size, though with a more road only tread design. We didn't mind this change, as the Explorer is only two wheel drive and sees mostly paved street duty. To our surprize, the noise and vibration went away after the tire change!
I didn't experience this one personally, but the usual UPS delivery person claimed one of his ATXs separated and the tread ripped up into his fender, doing cosmetic damage to it.
In my experienced opinion, anyone with these tires on their vehicle should immediately stop driving it and call your local Firestone tire outlet ( before it goes out of business )!
- Bongo ( Where's the jack? )
