Tire question (sorry, I know another tired question)

[A32Deuce]

I know a couple tow truck operations that are using the same tire and they are very happy with the results they get. A lot cheaper then the junk that was on it and replaced. One thing I stated wrong was 12 tires in 6 years. It was really 12 tires in 5 years and for the past year the Firestones have been great. I believe all the problems were before Bridgestone took over, but I could be wrong. Interesting thing is I replaced 2 M tires before the first year of ownership was up. Lost the tread on a rear tire and replaced both. One of those lost the tread in Feb of last year and all 4 were replaced.

[A32Deuce]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Let's see...



First there were the Firestone 500s. They were a steel-belted radial in the 1970s. Due to a fundamental problem in design or construction, virtually all of them suffered from tread separation. On October 20, 1978, Firestone recalled 7 million of them, still the largest tire recall in history. The 500s were replaced with Firestone 721s. Reference Also see this one.



The next fiasco was the Firestone 721 in around 2000. Apparently something changed in the design or manufacturing process and that old bugaboo, tread separation struck again. Reference



And if that weren't bad enough, at about the same time came the recalls of the Wilderness AT, ATX, and ATXII tires. You probably remember this one. It involved Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineer (same vehicle), Ford Ranger and F150 pickups, and the Mazda Navajo (also a Ford Explorer) and Bxxx pickup (Ford Ranger). A rear tire would fail and the vehicle would roll. How did the tires fail? Well...tread separation once again. There were hundreds of crashes and dozens of fatalities--on top of those caused by the 500s and 721. Not only did they have to recall 6.5 million tires (out of 14.4 million produced), but they lost Ford Motor Company as a customer.

Reference



A32, you and I think alike on a lot of things, but we have to differ on this one. I will never have Firestone tires on any vehicle. I have more stories but this is getting too long.



Larry

I always thought M tires were good but after what I went through not any more. Was never a fan of Goodyear or Firestone after the Ford deal, some of that was Ford/owner caused. But since I had heard good results by commercial users and Bridgestone is in charge, I figured what the heck. Back in the day I had Sonic wide oval tires on my car and it had 20000 miles on them and Firestone WideOvals only lasted 9000 miles.

[A32Deuce]

Originally Posted by babock

Did you not say this?

Missed the 12 tires in 6 years First problem. The whole quote means more then what you quoted I said. That's what I mean out of context.

[babock]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

Missed the 12 tires in 6 years First problem. The whole quote means more then what you quoted I said. That's what I mean out of context.

No..I didn't miss that.

I still love them and believe they are the best tires out there. My opinion and apparently not shared by you which is fine.

[BBogey]

Thanks for the replies (I wasn’t getting email notifications so I didn’t realize there had been more replies) I will continue to research and read reviews

[tucson]

go with Michelin, I run them on everything but my travel trailer

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

X2! 12 tires and nothing but trouble! Trying Firestones now and will see how they work. Great so far!

Firestone, the company that brought us the Firestone 500 which according to NHTSA caused "more than 14000 individual tire failures, 29 deaths, more than 50 injuries and hundreds of property-damage accidents" and as late as July 1978 “Firestone said through a spokesman in Akron, Ohio, that ‘we do not believe the proposed recall is justified. There is no safety-related reason for the public to be concerned about continuing to use the Firestone steel-belted 500 or any other Firestone-made tire.’”

Nope, no Firestones on a vehicle I own.

[Zoo Crew]

Michelins, and make sure you get a nation wide road hazard .

[Zoo Crew]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

Firestone, the company that brought us the Firestone 500 which according to NHTSA caused "more than 14000 individual tire failures, 29 deaths, more than 50 injuries and hundreds of property-damage accidents" and as late as July 1978 “Firestone said through a spokesman in Akron, Ohio, that ‘we do not believe the proposed recall is justified. There is no safety-related reason for the public to be concerned about continuing to use the Firestone steel-belted 500 or any other Firestone-made tire.’”

Nope, no Firestones on a vehicle I own.

That recall was more a Ford Explore issue , not Firestone.

[A32Deuce]

Originally Posted by Zoo Crew

That recall was more a Ford Explore issue , not Firestone.

X2! Too low tire pressure and overreaction!

[BBogey]

Again, thanks - I read all of the input!!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

Firestone, the company that brought us the Firestone 500 which according to NHTSA caused "more than 14000 individual tire failures, 29 deaths, more than 50 injuries and hundreds of property-damage accidents" and as late as July 1978 “Firestone said through a spokesman in Akron, Ohio, that ‘we do not believe the proposed recall is justified. There is no safety-related reason for the public to be concerned about continuing to use the Firestone steel-belted 500 or any other Firestone-made tire.’”

Nope, no Firestones on a vehicle I own.

Since this has become a Firestone vs. Michelin debate, I will put in my two cents--even though this may be as irresolvable as a Chevy vs. Ford debate.

I have used the same tire dealer (in south Raleigh/Garner, NC) since the 1980s. It's an independent shop that sells most lines. Great prices and I trust the owner enough that I could send my (late) wife to purchase new tires. But one time in the late 1990s I sent her for tires on her minivan and she came home with Firestones which replaced the General tires that had come with it. I was concerned, but decided to accept them, since we had a trip to Akron, OH set for the next day.

When I hit the first cloverleaf ramp, at the speed I usually took it, the Firestones were squealing and losing traction on the dry pavement. This continued on every turn and ramp until I learned to slow 10-15 mph from my former speed on turns.

As soon as we returned home, I took the car back to the shop and let the owner know the tires were unacceptable. If they behaved this way under normal conditions, what would happen if we had to take quick evasive action to avoid one of the ubiquitous deer?

To his credit, the owner agreed to replace the Firestones with Michelins if I would pay the difference in price. The Michelins had all the superior road-handling that the Generals did, and I had no problems with them.

I'm left with a good feeling for Michelins and another reason to distrust Firestones in addition to the three recalls I posted before and a bad experience as a youth.

Did I mention that all three of the Firestone models that were recalled were built in the infamous Decatur, Ill. factory near where my late wife grew up. It was a closed union shop with all the entitlements and acrimony associated with that. It was known for strikes and accompanying violence. Do you really want tires built by grownups that act like kids in gangs?

Larry

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Let's see...










A32, you and I think alike on a lot of things, but we have to differ on this one. I will never have Firestone tires on any vehicle. I have more stories but this is getting too long.



Larry

I hadn’t even read this before posting, but I’m with Larry here!

[Dbrote]

I currently have Continentals which are really so so. I have heard that Michelin has a new and improved tire for Motorhomes. Since I use Michelin on our other two cars (Acura RDX and BMW 330 Convertible) i will probably explore the Michelins later this year.

We have a Sunseeker 2400R

[BBogey]

I sure wasn’t trying to start a debate here, but hopefully info will be shared that is benifical to a lot of us - and so far I am learning a few things so thanks for that!

[Upslope]

Hey bogey, we to have the same unit , and we too needed new tires, about the same mileage as you. Also like you had some tread left but since we were leaving Colorado for AZ aNd Mexico last week wanted great tires....
Put on Michelin defenders and quite pleased, best I can say driving 9300
Miles to Alaska last year accelerated wear.... paid 1360.00
I attribute my poor mileage on the continentals due to running heavy.
(Had lots of fishin poles ) HaHa were In Tucson at this time quite nice should be on the beach in puerto Penasco about two weeks. I’m aMichelin guy always had
Them last many many miles . The WS is most wonderful. Cheers

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Let's see...

First there were the Firestone 500s. They were a steel-belted radial in the 1970s. Due to a fundamental problem in design or construction, virtually all of them suffered from tread separation. On October 20, 1978, Firestone recalled 7 million of them, still the largest tire recall in history. The 500s were replaced with Firestone 721s. Reference Also see this one.

The next fiasco was the Firestone 721 in around 2000. Apparently something changed in the design or manufacturing process and that old bugaboo, tread separation struck again. Reference

And if that weren't bad enough, at about the same time came the recalls of the Wilderness AT, ATX, and ATXII tires. You probably remember this one. It involved Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineer (same vehicle), Ford Ranger and F150 pickups, and the Mazda Navajo (also a Ford Explorer) and Bxxx pickup (Ford Ranger). A rear tire would fail and the vehicle would roll. How did the tires fail? Well...tread separation once again. There were hundreds of crashes and dozens of fatalities--on top of those caused by the 500s and 721. Not only did they have to recall 6.5 million tires (out of 14.4 million produced), but they lost Ford Motor Company as a customer.
Reference

A32, you and I think alike on a lot of things, but we have to differ on this one. I will never have Firestone tires on any vehicle. I have more stories but this is getting too long.

Larry

I believe it was Firestone CEO John Lampe who told Ford that Firestone would not supply tires to Ford because it was Ford's decision to specify 26 psi which was a mistake (Ford changed the inflation spec to 30 psi after the recall.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by BBogey

OK, so we are just starting to talk about new tires for our Forrester 2401W. We bought it two years ago and it came with Continental tires which seem to have been a good tire so far (21,000 miles on them and local tire shop said they still look good)

But, we plan to put another 5,000 miles on them this summer and then possibly do a cross country trip in the fall = I want to error on the side of caution and have new tires before then.

I don't want to spend a fortune, but we are more than WILLING to buy the best, both for peace of mind as well as giving us the best "chance" of problem free traveling.

I read the most about the Goodyear Endurance. Our local Cooper tire store does not carry them, but would order them in for us = $2,300 out the door (yes, YIKES!) They are saying their Cooper HT3 tires are great for a rig like ours, but I don't seem to recall reading the many, many tire threads and reading about Cooper (we always run Cooper on our cars/trucks and are happy with them, but the motorhome is a different beast) The Coopers are $1,200 out the door.

I'm looking for opinions on the best tire. I hesitate to go with Coopers just because I'm not seeing many RV people using them?

I guess I'm just looking for opinions on the two.

Thanks.

1. Have you read the post on why tires fail?


2. When asking questions about tires it is always helpful if you can provide the following: Tire Size, Load Range, Date of Mfg, Actual scale reading on the heavy end of each axle. Confirmation that you run a TPMS, confirmation that your tire load capacity is at least 15% greater than the load you are placing on your tires.


You say you have had two good years from the tires so why are you in a rush to change brand? It looks like it isn't broke but you want to "fix it" anyway.

[BBogey]

Hey upslope, thanks for the feedback!! LOL, we’d have a ton of rods in the MH too, but they’re usually in the boat!

Yup, we seem to be about in the same quandary - not unhappy with the continentals and if it weren’t for a possible 8,000 cross country and more trip, we’d probably not be worrying about this in 2019. I guess to some degree, we are paying (a LOT) for peace of mind, even though any tire can fail

The defenders are one of the tires I have on my list from research I’ve done.

Also, just to be clear, is your mpg better with the Michelin’s or continentals?

Safe travels

[sunnyinfla]

simpletire.com