Traveling off sanibel island and accelerating to 50 MPH, I heard a loud thud and slapping at the rear of the car as if I had run over something. I pulled to the side and discovered that the rear passenger side tire had shreaded. The tire was still inflated but the tread had separated, tearing off the rear wheel guard and the driver's side running board. The driver's rear side was also dented. Since I had just accelerated to 50, I did not lose control of the car and no other vehicles were hit by the flying debris. We changed the tire and drove to the nearest firestone dealer to replace that tire and the other rear tire. They did not inform us of existing problems with the atx and sold us two new atx tires. After we arrived at our destination -- which was a family reunion out of town -- we discovered the problems with accidents related to firestone tire tread separation which had resulted in accidents and even fatalities. Upon return home we went to the firestone store and they took the two atx tires back and replaced them with bridgestones. The body damage estimate is $1,100. We still have two front atx tires and a spare and are waiting to see if a recall is put in place for those.( dot number: )
1996 Ford Explorer tires complaints
Page 16 of 20: complaints 431 to 460 of 570, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The tread of the passenger-side front tire came detached from the tire while I was driving south on I-5 in san diego. My car nearly flipped over and some damage was done to my front quarter on the passenger side. I did not know there had been numerous complaints about these tires doing the same thing to other people, so I replaced the tires myself at a cost of $546 out of fear for safety with those tires. I'm concerned that firestone will try to ignore people who have already purchased new tires on their own, even though it was firestone's defective tires that needed to be replaced. Please help us make sure that firestone owns up to their mistake and compensates people like myself who could have been killed as a result of their defective product.( dot number: )
The tire failed consistent with reports that are causing the recall of the firestone atx tires. The tread peeled off, the tire blew, and my wife lost control into a concrete median barricade.( dot number: )
Tire tread separated. 95 degrees outside. Almost flipped SUV. One week later, I witnessed the same problem (firestone widerness on an explorer) cause a gruesome death because the vehicle flipped.( dot number: tire size: p255/70r16 )
My son was driving on interstate 75 going approx. 75mph and the rear driver's side tire just peeled away and caught the rear panel and pulled it off. Nothing was in the roadway to cause something like this to happen. Thank god tire didn't blow. At time roadside repair help advised it was a defective tire -- should not have happened. Since lease was up the next month, we turned explorer in tire and all paid dedutible to have repaired and ins. Co. Couldn't persue because we didn't keep the tire.( dot number: )
On july 13, my family and I were traveling from yuma, az to san diego, california. Our right front tire's tread came away from the rest of the tire while we were going 70 miles an hour. These tires were inspected by alexander ford in yuma az in april and determined to be fine. On july 24th, I was once again traveling from yuma,az to california and the tread on my back left tire cracked and part of it came off as well. Both the tires were obviously replaced, and in fact I still have one of the tires in my possession.( dot number: )
Trend came off tire , damage to rear fender-traveling aprox. 65 on freeway( dot number: tire size: p235/75/15 )
Entering freeway, tread separated from tire and knocked off molding and bent body.( dot number: tire size: 235/75-15 )
Firestone tire (no size or brand) experienced blowout, consumer noticed a split in sidewall all around the tire, consumer states the cause of the tire failure is unknown.
Pe00 020; consumer had just come back from a traveling trip and gas attendant told him that his tires didn't look good. Tires were firestone atx#. He had all four tires replaced.
Pe 00020: was driving 60mph & heard a noise from left rear. After pulling over to side of road & checking tires, noticed tread had separated completely. Tread had wrapped around rear axle. Tire was still inflated. Tread had beat against the fender & underside of vehicle, causing a lot of damage. Changed the tire. Still has tire, and will mail in when label was received. Firestone wilderness atx; dot #vdhl1pm395; size p235/75r15 and had 40,000 miles on tires. *ak
Consumer son's tires began to lose tread after riding for approximately 10 minutes after putting air in tires. Then, tread peeled off.
Consumer was driving on the interstate when she heard a pop, and lost control, hitting the guardrail/ concrete wall. Vehicle was totalled. After she came to a stop, the police stated that tread was coming off from the tire.
Pe00 020; consumer was traveling about 50mph on the highway and heard a grinding noise left rear tire tread separated from wheel.
Pe00020, orginial equipment on the 1996 explorer. Rear tire tread separated while driving in which tread wrapped around rear axle, causing vehicle to spin around. Firestone fixed damage and replaced all tires with same brand. Firestone said it was an isolated problem. *ak
While driving, consumer felt vibration and could hardly steer vehicle, pulled off to the side of road, after inspection of the firestone atx tire p235/75r15 dot vdhl1pm tire it was found that there was a large separation on driver's front tire, 10 days later another tire experienced tread separation and on this tire the steel belts could be seen, the second blowout caused damage to the fender, running board, and bumper, all tires were replaced and another faulty tire was found, consumer is requesting reimbursement.
One spot on one tire wore through into the steel belt while the rest of the tire tread had no problems with quite a bit of tread left on them. It was only by chance that I noticed the worn spot and fortunately it was before going on a long trip. New tires, same type were purchased. More recently, I rotated the original spare onto the car and noticed a steering pull to one side and found it was not an alignment problem. It turned out the original spare also had one worn out spot down to the steel belt while the rest of the tire was fine. At the store I asked why it might happen in particular on two tires. They mentioned there probably was a defect in the tire and they were to save the tire so I could contact firestone. However, they saved the wrong tire so I don't have it. But hearing of the defects on the all terrain firestone tires prompted me to relay this experience of two original equipment firestone tires that had single spots worn down past the steel belts on otherwise 1/2 worn tires. *ak( dot number: )
After reading some info on the recent firestone tire problems I had the same failure a couple of years ago. I did not have an accident just some minor damage from the tire slapping the rear bumper and wheel well. I just wanted to let you know about the incident. Just last month I bought another explorer with the same tires. I guess I have to get them replaced. *ak( dot number: )
Tire came apart suddenly, and destroyed lr fender and damaged undercarriage. Total repair cost $2400. *ak( dot number: unknown tire size: p205/75r15 )
Tread separation at 75 MPH driving from phoenix to la last thursday. I saved the defective tire due to news coverage but had to replace the rest to make the return trip with confidence. *ak( dot number: )
While driving south from atlanta on i75 at 70mph the right rear tire exploded with a roar.my wife, who was driving, managed to ease the car off the road. The tire was totally disintegrated. We called aaa who removed the wheel and installed the spare. On june 28 we took the car to firestone tire co at 2211 appalache pkwy, tallahassee, fl , 32301 tel 850‑877‑0184. They could offer no explanation as to why the tire disintegrated so totally. We bought a new firestone radl atx I I tire which they installed. *ak( dot number: tire size: 23575r15 )
Tire tread peeled off of tire during highway driving. First occurance in april with no crash or injury. Second occurance caused vehicle to roll causing significant damage. Vehicle is currently at body shop getting estimate. *ak( dot number: tire size: 235-15 )
At approx. 5:00 pm on march 2000, while returning to charlotte, nc from trip to columbia, sc that morning (driving time approx. 1 hr. 15 minutes ea. Way), handling became rough following noise of something hitting undercarriage of vehicle. Upon pulling off highway, we examined left rear tire and discovered that tread had completely peeled away, leaving exposed smooth rubber surface. Changed tire and continued balance of trip without incident. Tire was purchased in october 1999 from sears. In light of recent publicity, we felt we should report this. Would also like to know why it took the removal action by sears to spotlight this problem and why the ntsa did not make this problem public knowledge beforehand. *ak( dot number: )
Tread came off of tire after car began to shake violently on highway. The car was traveling approximately 60 miles an hour when the accident occurred. The temperature was about 90 degrees and we had been driving for 3 1/2 hours. The shaking of the car began slowly when the car reached 65 miles per hour and over a distance of 60 miles the shaking increased dramatically until the tire blew. The tire was completely shreaded. Both back tires were replaced and a free firestone inspection has been performed on the original front two tires.( dot number: tire size: p235/75r15 )
My wife and I purchased a new ford explorer in 09/1996. Since that time we have had to replace every original tire, including the spare, because of tread seperation. This did not occur all at once, but over the period of time since we purchased the vehicle. Some of the tires were replaced at the ford dealership and some of the tires were replaced at firestone dealerships, regardless of where the tires were inspected, the cause given for the bad tires was consistently the "beginning of tread seperation". Unfortunately, we were not aware of the extent of the problem nationally, because had we known, we would not have replaced the original tires with the same model/make of tires. I do not readily have available the dates, the vehicle mileage of when the tires were replaced nor which tires were replaced (e.g. Front right or rear left) at the time of replacement, but I will search for those records. I always carefully monitor any subtle changes in the performance of my vehicles, which is why I was able to detect early, the seperation of the tread from the tires. The symptom I detected was a noticably rougher ride beginning at a speed of 50 MPH. Contact me, should you need any other information.( dot number: tire size: p235/75r15 )
Tread separated from casing. Tire went flat while parked. On re-inflation, bubble in tread appeared when air leak was blocked with finger. *ak( dot number: tire size: 255/70r16 )
No summary listed for abov evehicle. *ak( dot number: tire size: 225x70rx15 )
The firestone wilderness at tires were purchased in march of 2000. While on a trip the back drivers side tire blew. It was in shreds when we were finally able to stop. No one was injured and the firestone in springfield, mo replaced the tire after charging us $24 for mounting. That evening we saw on the news that this was not an isolated incident and feel like the dot should hear about every occurrence. We were lucky. Thank you for your follow up on my original e-mail. *ak( dot number: 109s m/s tire size: p255/70r16 )
Two days prior to the tread seperating from the firestone atx, I had to remove and replace with the spare the passanger side rear tire due to an egg forming on the tire. *ak( dot number: tire size: p235/75r15 )
All 4 of our firestone tires were quite new, and the tread was excellent. For no reason, the right rear tire exploded while we were driving on the freeway. All that remained of the tire were rudiments of the tread. The entire sidewall had blown off. The firestone dealer initially claimed that we must have run over something, but then changed his mind and replaced the tire. Now that we are reading about the problems with this tire, we believe that there is a real need to pull all of them off the market before more accidents occur. It is not enough for firestone to voluntarily inspect the tires because the tires look fine. It is a structural problem that is not apparent to the naked eye, and that makes it all the more dangerous. Ford motor company recommends these tires, and firestone stands behind them. The tires pose a known risk, and it is time for these two companies to replace them. Thanks for your consideration of this matter. Ken lloyd. *ak( dot number: tire size: p235/75r15 )
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1996 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history