Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TIRES | |||||
| 9852 | 04/13/1998 | 601290 | Information on tire company telephone numbers for customer assistance. *yc | 07/17/1998 | |
| BC5195961001 | 10/01/1996 | 50472 | Firestone p235 tires may exhibit a high frequency vibration at 65-75 mph. *tt | 04/24/1997 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TIRES | |||
| 07/15/2007 | 133865 | 1 | |
| I have a ford f-250 powerstroke year 1996. the tread on the tire separated, causing major damage to the truck. the tire was a trail cutter radial r/t. lt 265/75/r16. *tr | |||
| 01/01/1901 | |||
| While driving 60 mph with no load tire blewout. *bf *nm | |||
| 07/01/2002 | 1 | ||
| While pulling his 5th wheel trailer, the tire blew out on the right rear tire of the tow vehicle. the blow out happened across the tread area. *cb | |||
| 07/28/2002 | 1 | 11/01/1996 | |
| While traveling 65 mph front left tire blewout but driver did not lose control, owner noticed that a 4'wide-6'edge chunk had peeled away. these were the original tires. *ak *nlm | |||
| 07/26/2002 | 1 | 11/01/2096 | |
| The tire tread separated (felt vibration) i traveled apprx 200 yards and then the tire blewout, causing damage to the exhaust pipes /wheel well/ wheel liner/bed, and wheel well trim.*ak | |||
| 08/30/2001 | 1 | 05/01/2001 | |
| While towing rv on straight section of interstate right rear tire exploded. force pushed up rht rear 1/4 panel, tail pipe, wheel housing, canopy. vehicle did not hit any debris in road to cause tire failure.*ak (dot number: vdor1wt tiresize: lt235/85r1) | |||
| 09/08/2001 | 1 | 03/28/1996 | |
| Firestone steel tex tires r4s lt235/85r16, dot vdortwc415; while traveling in a ford, f250 vehicle at 60mph consumer heard a loud explosion. pulled vehicle over and noticed tire had a blowout which caused damage to wheel well. *ak damage was done to the quarter panel and wheel well, the steel braid pulled tailpipe forward damaging the pipes and wheel housing, consumer was informed that these tires were not included in the recall. *jb | |||
| 4 | 12/01/1998 | ||
| Tires are cracking around the bead on the rim. i have contacted cooper about this and was told my suspension is stiff causing the tire to flex more than normal. i have contacted les schawb, and big o tire companies about this statement, and was told this is totally wrong. cooper has replaced 4 sets of tires in 2 years. they made sure that dot numbers did not match on three occasions. cooper has told be i will no longer receive tires becasue i have a load range d tire, and ford recomends a load range e. the tire i have purchased will carry aprox 500lbs more than the tire ford recomends. this is why les schwab and big o tires are saying cooper is trying to get out of their responsibility of replacing a defective product.*ak (dot number: 28161-3 tiresize: 285/75/r16) | |||
| 4 | 01/01/1996 | ||
| Tires are failing ,cracking and chunks falling off ,other people are haveing the same problems firestone does not want to help us . *ak (tiresize: 235-85r-16)( dot number: tire size: 235-85r-16 ) | |||
| 4 | 08/01/1996 | ||
| The original firestone lt 235/85r16 m & s at and firestone lt 235/85r16 r4s tires on the vehicle were defective, showed signed of cracking, separation and experienced blow out, the firestone dealer refused credit to consumer as they were original tires on the vehicle, consumer is requesting reimbursement for defective tires. cj | |||
| 11/30/1996 | 1 | 05/01/1996 | |
| Tire cap came off and tire blew.*ak (dot number: ? tiresize: lt23585r16) | |||
| 1 | |||
| Firestone steeltex radial rfs p235 85 r16 tires experience constant vibration and tread wear. *slc | |||
| 08/24/1997 | 2 | 09/01/1996 | |
| First tire failure the truck was only a few months old and had about 4000 miles. i was doing about 60 mph on i75 when the tire blew. i called the ford service number and a service vehicle came and put my spare tire on. the next day i took the tire to the firestone dealer at dadeland in miami. there they said that there was nothing they could do since i had driven on it. my complaint was that no other record was made of the early tire failure.*ak (dot number: 20891ur tiresize: lt235/85r1) | |||
| 07/15/1999 | 4 | ||
| These 4 tires failed.the center steel chords were showing on all 4 tires upon insptection. i immideatly removed and replaced all the tires. i have one tire left that was a spare serial number 20881urbd96426-4.these tires are the orginal tires bought on a 1996 ford 250 new at counts ford, sullivan, mo. i feel that you need to know the information on these tires being that you have had so much trouble with firestone tires.i replaced these tires out of my pocket myself and can be verifed of their condition by monroe city tire& battery, monroe city, mo 63456.business hwy. 36. *ak (tiresize: 2358516m8)( dot number: tire size: 2358516m8 ) | |||
| 1 | |||
| Firestone steeltex radial rfs p235 85 r16 tires experience constant vibration and tread wear. *slc | |||
| 06/01/1998 | |||
| On a camping trip i awoke on the morning of 9/30/00 to find the right front tire flat. i installed the spare and when i got home secured replacement goodyear tires and commenced to install them. prior to demounting the right front i inflated it to determine where the air was escaping. it appeared to be escaping in an area between the tread pattern. when i demounted the tire i inspected the interior and could see no evidence of a penetration wound and could find no type of foreign object. in my two years working at a tire installation facility (sears) i never encountered a failure of this nature. needless to say with the events of the past several months at firestone and my subsequent tire failure my confidence in the firestone tire company has been seriously eroded. firestone is now recalling some sixteen inch tires but as yet have not included the 235/85 steeltex. i was curious to know if any failures of my size tire have been brought to your attention. thank you for your time. sincerely richard neitzel. *ak( dot number: vnor1ww365 tire size: 235/85r16 ) | |||
| TIRES - SIDEWALL | |||
| 3 | |||
| 3 firestone steeltex (16 inch) at tires experienced sidewall cracks. nlm | |||
| 05/01/1998 | 1 | 01/01/1996 | |
| Sidewall bowout. no reason for blowout. sidewall failure. (tiresize: lt 235-85r)( dot number: tire size: lt 235-85r ) | |||
| 10/11/1999 | 1 | ||
| Pe00020, orignal equipment on 1996, ford, f250, tire size lt23585r16. due to a bubble on the sidewall driver's rear tire exploded from the sidewall, which almost cause a crash. firestone prorated the tire. *ak | |||
| TIRES - TREAD/BELT | |||
| 05/01/2003 | 20000 | 1 | |
| The vehicle tire tread has begun to separate. *nlm | |||
| 10/17/2001 | 1 | 05/16/1996 | |
| While driving, vehicle began to vibrate, and was hard to control, consumer was able to stop to a local firestone dealer and discovered that a huge chunk of the tread from the rear tire was missing, firestone replaced the tire.(firestone steeltex r4s lt 235 85 r16 m/s.*jb | |||
| 11/15/2001 | 1 | ||
| While driving the right rear tread separated from the tire causing damage to the exhaust pipes and wheel well of the vehicle, the tire had 30774 mile on it at the time of failure, the consumer requested reimbursement for the tire and damages but was declined by the manufacturer who stated that the service manager found evidence that the tire was operated for an unknown period of time with insufficient air pressure, the consumer (firestone steeltex at tires, size lt 235/85r16, dot#vdorraa507, set of four tires was purchased 24-jul-1999). nlm | |||
| 08/27/2001 | 1 | 02/01/1996 | |
| Tire tread completely separated from the tire, just like the firestone wilderness at.*ak (dot number: vdor 1w1 tiresize: lt23585r16) | |||
| 11/04/2000 | 2 | 09/01/1996 | |
| Vehicle was in an accident in which consumer feels the tires were the cause, however none of the tires actually blewout, prior to accident a dealer noticed steelbelts coming through center of the tread, firestone steeltex tires p235/85r16 dotvd0rtww046. *slc | |||
| 07/28/2000 | 1 | ||
| Firestone steeler 4rs tire (p235 85 r16) experienced tread separation, the blowout caused damage to the vehicle. *slc | |||
| 06/01/1999 | 2 | 09/01/1997 | |
| Two of the firestone (steeltex radial lt 235/85r16 m/s) tires on the vehicle experienced tread separation. *mjs | |||
| 08/23/2000 | 1 | ||
| Firestone: driving on turn pike when tire blew out, tire dented rear quarter panel. (claim#38-j518-357) *mw | |||
| 07/05/1999 | 1 | 08/01/1996 | |
| On 4 different occasions have suffered tread seperation on 4 tires. *ak (tiresize: 225/75r16)( dot number: tire size: 225/75r16 ) | |||
| 10/01/1999 | 2 | 06/01/1996 | |
| Pe00 020; consumer was traveling about 65mph on highway and heard a thumping noise. he was able to pull over to the shoulder , right front tire tread had separated from the rim. there was a second incident where left rear tire tread had separated the tires. firestone, steeltex radial#at,#lt2358516e he has contacted firestone. tires were replaced by cooper tires, and there were no injuries.*ak first tire separation occured at 25000 miles. the replaced tire failed similarly at 37ooo miles, firestone dealer pointed out that the tire was out of warranty. *yh | |||
| 08/01/1998 | 1 | ||
| Pe00-040; original tire on ford, 1996, f250, lt235/85r16 m/s. passenger's rear side tire tread came off at 45 mph. consumer was able to keep control of vehicle, incident took place in alaska.*ak | |||
| 09/01/1997 | |||
| Pe00 020; consumer was traveling about 60mph on highway and felt vibration inside vehicle. he was able to pull over to the shoulder, and noticed that right rear tire tread had separated. firestone, steeltex, #r4s 2358516. he has contacted firestone. there were no injuries.*ak | |||
| 06/05/1998 | 1 | ||
| While looking tires over, noticed cracks on tread. consumer replaced tires . *ak tires were firestone steeltex p235/85r16. *slc | |||
| 05/30/2000 | 1 | 08/01/1998 | |
| The right rear tire experienced complete catastrophic failure while driving the highway at 70mph. the temperature on the day of the failure was approximately 100 degrees. there was sufficent tread on the tire and the pressure was maintained at 70 psi. there was no debris in the road and there were no signs that there were any problems with the tire. when the tire blew out the tread slung upward into the tail pipe driving it into the fender, causing $800.00 worth of body damage. i believe these tires are not receiving the attention of the tires on the ford suv's because trucks do not tend to roll over, therefor fatalities are not reported. this does not however negate the fact that firestone has prodcued a bad tire that i feel should be investigated.*ak( dot number: tire size: 235/85 r16 ) | |||
| 09/19/2000 | 2 | 04/01/1996 | |
| Tires wore out in one section only. the rest of tire tread good for another 20000 mi. dealer said tires were made incorrectly and were egg-shaped instead of round. i had to pay $137.69 to replace tires that shouldn't have needed replacing yet if they were made correctly. *ak( dot number: vdor1ww445 tire size: 23585r16 ) | |||