Warning over old tyres

[cs363]

If I remember correctly, the Firestone/Explorer issue was far more apparant in hot enviroments, where the tyres were generating alot of heat, due to the low tyre pressure. Also IIRC Fords solution to the problem was to get the tyres Overinflated to try an alleviate the problem. Thus causing more problems. Also, once the ford claim was thrown out of court, then Firestone counter sued Ford for defamation, and I think they won. I think Firestone were able to prove that it was a Vehicle fault not a tyre issue.

From what I recall it seemed to be a combination of too low a tyre pressure specified for such a heavy vehicle, possible manufacturing defects with the tyres (I believe all the tyres that failed were manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, Illinois plant which has since been closed, largely due to the Exploder issue) and alleged design faults with the vehicle itself. I also remember reading that a similar number of Explorers fitted with Goodyear tyres had considerably less failures and that the Goodyear tyre had an extra belt or liner (something like that). Other reports state that Ford was struggling with handling issues with the Explorer and it's predecessor the Bronco, way before the Firestone rubber hit the fan.
I don't believe that either side had a conclusive victory, at the end of the day the only winners were the multitudes of lawyers who lined their pockets at Ford, Firestone and the customers expense - not an unusual situation in the US!

Anyway, the whole Ford Exploder/Firestone issue is very contentious - just try Googling it and see the number of sites that come up and probably leading us a bit off track here.

However, what it does highlight (and reinforces Frosty's earlier post) is that tyre pressures are extremely important not only for the performance of your tyres, but also their life and yours!

[quickbuck]

Forgive my ignorance. What sort of sustained high speed are we talking about here?

EXACTLY 70mph for a constant 2 hours or more... High speed for a 2.5 tonne vehicle running on 24psi.
Heat, the killer of all rubber

[warewolf]

Thing is though, I get the most milage out of my tyres if I have managed to take them to the track half way through their life.

Quite possibly because they have had all the goodness 'cooked' out of them, and have gone hard?

I don't expect the tyres will catastrophically fail without warning, just really wanted to put the idea out there that street-legal race rubber does have some negative characteristics not immediately apparent.

[warewolf]

How many bike tyres have you seen that have fallen apart like that?

Quite a few recent reports of adventure tyres de-laminating. Were they abused? Questionable, some reported warranty replacements, so probably not according to the distributors.

Problem for adv riders is wanting to use low off-road pressures and knobby-type grip in the dirt, and higher on-road pressures and high-speed sports-type grip on the tar. Makes the tyres prone to being flogged out on road at inadequate pressures.

[FROSTY:Me]

Thats not fallen appart thats ripped appart.You see that with knobblies all the time.

[Ixion]

Yith. Knobblies is different rules. You can rip the knobs off knobblies just braking hard. DAMHIK.

[YellowDog]

Back in 1991 my ex-wife was driving down the motorway at constant speed. She wasn't chaning lane or braking. Without warning the near side rear tyre exploded and she had to keep control and rapidly steer over to the hard shoulder.

When I arrived to pick her up, there was no near side rear tyre. All that was left was a few elements of the tyre's side wall still attached to the rim.

Unfortunately she was unhurt. Just a bit shaken. The tyres had tread however they were quite old.

If it was a front tyre or she was on two wheels, I may well have been collecting a significant life insurance payout.

[Kickaha]

If it was a front tyre or she was on two wheels, I may well have been collecting a significant life insurance payout.

generally if it is a front tyre you retain more control, left rear tyre is the worst one to have let go

I also remember reading that a similar number of Explorers fitted with Goodyear tyres had considerably less failures

They may have had less failures overall but the report I read said Goodyear had less tyres fitted to the Explorer but a higher percentage of failures, they also had failures on just about every brand fitted and the majority of those failures where on the rear of the vehicle

[cs363]

generally if it is a front tyre you retain more control, left rear tyre is the worst one to have let go



They may have had less failures overall but the report I read said Goodyear had less tyres fitted to the Explorer but a higher percentage of failures, they also had failures on just about every brand fitted and the majority of those failures where on the rear of the vehicle

Yes, I've seen varying reports on this (as with the whole Ford/Firestone saga) though most seem to echo this taken from Wikipedia (yes, yes I know! But the information is repeated elsewhere):

Ford and Firestone have both blamed the other for the failures, which has led to the severing of relations between the two companies. Firestone has claimed that they have found no faults in design nor manufacture, and that failures have been caused by Ford's recommended tire pressure being too low and the Explorer's design. Ford, meanwhile, point out that Goodyear tires to the same specification have a spotless safety record when installed on the Explorer, although an extra liner was included into the Goodyear design after recommendations to that effect were made to Ford. Firestone included an extra liner in its product and this was then also used to replace tires on Ford Explorers.

[quickbuck]

Quite possibly because they have had all the goodness 'cooked' out of them, and have gone hard?

I don't expect the tyres will catastrophically fail without warning, just really wanted to put the idea out there that street-legal race rubber does have some negative characteristics not immediately apparent.

NOPE!
Actually it was because i can actually het rid of that darn lump that appears about half way across the tyre due to too much straight line running.......

The last rear was remoced when there was less than 1.7mm of tread over the WHOLE tyre.. Still had the shape it was when new.
Had done 9000k on a Sportec. Really good considering i had to do one at 5000k once....

[yachtie10]

Thanks to this thread,got me a pair of Dunlop GPR-A10's,they are super sticky,and grip very good,I feel much safer going round corners,and can go through them faster,without worrying if the back will give out.

Good on you
make sure you look at safer gear too

[Kickaha]

Ford, meanwhile, point out that Goodyear tires to the same specification have a spotless safety record when installed on the Explorer, although an extra liner was included into the Goodyear design after recommendations to that effect were made to Ford. Firestone included an extra liner in its product and this was then also used to replace tires on Ford Explorers.[/I]

http://www.fordexplorerrollover.com/...es/Default.cfm
I was wrong about the Goodyears,it was their light truck recall i was thinking of

When you look into how may recalls there are and what brands are involved it just about make you want to walk everywhere, there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the same amount for Motorcycle tyres, I wonder why that is?r

[cs363]

http://www.fordexplorerrollover.com/...es/Default.cfm
I was wrong about the Goodyears,it was their light truck recall i was thinking of

When you look into how may recalls there are and what brands are involved it just about make you want to walk everywhere, there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the same amount for Motorcycle tyres, I wonder why that is?r

You're not wrong on the walking comment!
I think it's probably down to the motorcycle market being predominantly an enthusiast market so perhaps a little more care and maintenance is undertaken, not to mention that it's pretty bloody hard to seriously overload a bike in comparison to a car or SUV etc.
I'm picking there's probably a much higher percentage of car/SUV drivers that don't care about their tyres and probably never check them, multiplied when you start thinking about government and company vehicles and so on......
I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of tyre failures are down to user issues rather than manufacturing defects.

[FROSTY:Me]

I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of tyre failures are down to user issues rather than manufacturing defects.

Could't agree more.

[Kickaha]

I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of tyre failures are down to user issues rather than manufacturing defects.

I'd be willing to bet most of those "user issues" that cause the failures would be incorrect inflation pressures