Problems with 2000 Ford Excursion TIRES

Left front tire blow out....my wife sharon serne was driving east on hwy 50 coming up to the eldorado hills exit when out of no ware the left front tire (firestone rs4 lt265-75-16) of our 2000 ford excursion blew out, she was pulled hard into the center guardrail and did extensive damage to the entire left side of our vehicle. sharon did a great job on avoiding any other persons or doing further damage to the vehicle as in rolling or going over the embankment that was up ahead. when we bought the vehicle i looked into the firestone tire problems just for this kind of concern and at the time could not find any type problems so i felt ok about their tires. until now i_x0019_m very concerned about the quality of the tires that my family will have on the cars we drive. thank you for your time i know its important, if you can help by pointing me in the right direction i would really appreciate it. the senre family. *ak

I have a 2000 ford excursion that has firestone tires on it that were stock from the factory. they have 1/4" of treat left and were properly inflated. i was traveling on the interstate and the tread off the right rear tire came off. i slowed and stopped as quick as i could. the tread bent the bottom 8" of the rear quarter panel up under the truck and dented and scratched it all over the rear panel. it also broke out the rear tail light. i havent received a estimate yet but quess it will be between 1500 to $2000 dollars damage to my vehicle. the vehicle was losing control but i am a trained emergency vehicle operator/veteran police officer of 17 years. my driving abilities enabled me to maintain control of the vehicle. *ak

Firestone tire defect - steeltex -- last week my son and two friends was driving my excursion at about 75 mph when the tread on the left front tire separated. this was witnessed by an on-coming driver. my vehicle ran off the road hit a culvert and flipped end-to-end. there was extensive damage to the vehicle both front top and rear. the air bags did not deploy. one passenger was life-flighted from the accident scene. very fortunately all of the passengers were wearing seatbelts -- all were injured but none seriously -- the injuries of the passenger that was life-flighted was not as serious as initially believed.

Owner has a 2000 ford excursion equipped with steeltex radial a/t tires size lt265/75r16. the vehicle had 1 tire blow out and was left on the side of the road. owner tried to contact firestone for road side assistance but firestone refused. the owner then received help from goodyear and replaced those tires with goodyear tires. now firestone will not honor the tire recall because the owner was not able to produce the damaged tires. owner says the tires provide further details. *jb *nm

Firestone steeltex a/t tread and steel cord peeled off from tire carcass causing over $2,000 damage to vehicle and momentary loss of vehicle control. this is third steeltex failure on same vehicle in less than 2 months. remaining tire has been removed from the vehicle. firestone refused to warranty out either tire (blown or still in service) or pay for vehicle damage.*ak

I've been a mechanic for over 7 yrs, i noticed that my firestone steeltex a/t tires had strange wear and were noisy. i checked the alignment on my vehicle, which was in manufacturer's specs. we went on a 500ml road trip almost to my destination, when my left front tire blew out on the freeway without warning. when i saw the tire the first thing i noticed were the sideways still in tact, and the tread was gone. before we left i did a trip check which includes checking the pressure and condition of tires.*ak

Consumer states tire bubbled up under the tread, causing a blowout. dealer notified. *ak

While on a driving vacation with my family, i found all 4 firestone steeltex 265-75 a\t tires on our 2000 ford excursion to be experiencing sidewall failure.2 of the tires were near immediate failure and the other two were starting to fail.i make it a habit to check my tires and vehicle closely whenever i fuel my vehicles up, and this was the only thing preventing what could have been a very serious accident ( i was towing a 24 ft boat at the time).

I was proceding north on i17 just north of new river az when my left rear tire exploded. at the time i was traveling 75 mph which is the speed limit on the highway. i was in traffic and it took at least a mile to slow down and get off of the freeway safely. as i use this vehicle for recreational usage i had just had the tires rotated and i checked the air pressure 20 min. before this occured. all tires where at the proper inflation and since the tires had more than 50 percent tread i felt they where in great shape. i have since retired all of the tires by replacing them as i can't take the chance of another blow out. i was lucky i was not towing the 26' trailer i usually tow with this vehicle.*ak

Bridgestone/firestone tire failure, tire blew for no apparent reason. *bf the consumer received a recall notice for the tires and was told all four of the tires had to be replaced. the consumer was reassured he would be reimbursed for the two tires he had purchased. the consumer received another notice in the mail which stated they would not be reimbursed for the tires he had purchased because the consumer would have needed to purchase the tires at an independent firestone dealer. *jb

On sunday, june 1st, while returning from a fishing trip and towing a boat, the right rear tire on my ford excursion exploded on i-285 north of atlanta ga. i was in the lane inside the fast lane, but moving at the same speed as traffic. i was able to navigate to the shoulder and change the tire. however, because the tire exploded and wrapped itself around the axle, the rim was destroyed. i have ordered another rim from a re-manufacturer. i've e-mailed firestone with the incident information, but have received no response. *nlm

Firestone steeltex a/t removed from service as firestone technician did not like the appearance of the sidewall. this is second of 3 failures in two month period. *ak

Blow out of firestone steeltex a/t. this is first of three steeltex tire failures on this vehicle in two month period. each will be reported separately.*ak

My vehicle, a ford excursion, suffered a tread separation. as a result of the separation, the vehicle became involved in a rollover. during the rollover, my wife and i and our two passengers, my son and his wife, received severe injuries.*ak

The tire experienced tread separation, which caused damage to the vehicle. *jb

Firestone steeltex r45 tires which were original equipment on a 2000 ford excursion. the tires have 30,000 miles with minimal tread wear, however, the sidewalls on all 4 tires are splitting to the cord. contact with firestone resulted in a verbal explanation that they would recognize this as a 'road hazard' situation and pro-rate 50% of the cost of replacement with firestone/bridgestone tires. the firestone consumer affairs/retail operations representative further advised that the ntsb has completed an investigation of these tires and found no reason for a recall. *nlm

Vehicle tires are separating.*mr prior to incident, the consumer contacted ford, but was told the tires were not being recalled. one year later the consumer received a letter in the mail which stated his vehicle identification number was listed as having tires which were being recalled. the letter also stated that replaced tires would be reimbursed with a receipt. the consumer sent the original receipt with a copy of the letter. the consumer then received a denial letter stating at the time he replaced the tires they were defective but not recalled. *jb *nm

I have had two bridgstone tires with aprox 35,000 miles on the fail / seperate with in 70 miles both tires have same dot codes as well as the other on my truck the tires are bridgestone dueler a/t size 285/75/r16 with the code of ejlfccb0200

While traveling the rear right tire blew. size#lt26575r16, please provide the dot#. dealer has been notified. ph

The left rear tire of my ford excursion exploded during normal highway usage. the tire was a firestone steeltex radial r4s ii, lt 265/75r16. the manufacturer claims underinflation of tire.

Consumer experienced two tire blow outs. (nar) *ph *cb the blowouts occurred on the left side. the same thing occurred on the passenger side where the seam fell apart. *sc the consumer received a letter which stated the tires were recalled. *jb

75 mph, loud bang and complete tire tread separation. both interior and exterior sidewalls intact but tread completely missing. dt

No summary. dt

3 of 4 tires bad on 2000 excursion within 5 months of each other from june 6ththrough october 4th. first tire developed sidewall tread bubble on left rear tire, traveling on highway at 65 mph, second tire developed sidewall tread bulbble on left front tire while traveling 65 mph. third tire blew out while traveling 60 mph on highway while pulling trailer, damaging right rear quarter panel

On sept. 27, 2002 about 40 miles before my actual blow out, i felt and heard something on the drivers' side rear tire. i thought it was a rock from my wheel well, except i was on a highway with no rocks to be found. my truck began to shake so i kept my speed at about 60 mph. about 40 miles later, my rear driver's side tire blew out. on july 3, 2002 i had all of my tires checked because i felt unsafe in my truck. my tires did not drive smoothly anymore. the factory rep. from firestone was there and personally checked my tires and told me that they were fine condition and i had a lot of wear left on them. he told me that they would rotate and balance my tires. i submitted a report to firestone asking for them to pay my truck repair and the cost of my tires pro-rated. they have denied my claim and stated that i hit something that made my tire blow like it did. i have sent them a letter to ask for reconsideration. please advise. *jb ***dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis*****770178

The left front tire experienced a blow out. *jb

Consumer states that three faulty valve stems caused a tire blowout while driving on firestone steeltex tires. ( please provide tire size & dot#).*jb

Sidewall blewout at highway speed -- lost the entire tread, rim and sidewall was severely damaged by the time the vehicle was brought to a stop. tires had 35000 miles on them and were regularly rotated. tire pressure had just been checked 25 miles before incident.

No sxummary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Vehicle = 2000 ford excursion.res = firestone steeltex while traveling on i-15 southbound from brigham city, utah to salt lake city, utah, the left (drivers side) rear tire on the vehicle blew out. the vehicle was traveling at a speed of approximately 60 mph and did not hit any debris or anything else on the road. the tire was completely distroyed. fairly major body damage occured. at this point, i went to a big-o tire dealer and had them remove all firestone tires from the vehicle and replace them with big-o brand tires. there were no injurys. however, i momentarially lost of control of the vehicle. i had just check the tire pressure in all 4 tires about 45 minutes and 30 miles prior to the blowout.*ak

All four original equipment tires showed severe cracking in the sidewalls and were replced by firestone on a prorated basis. no accident was caused, problem noticed in driveway and remidied immediately.*ak

On sat. (08/10/02) my family and i decided to take a leisurely drive into the hill country just outside of austin, texas. i was driving my 2000 ford excursion on hwy 71, westward at an approx speed of 65 when the front right tire completely separated from its tread. this occurred unexpectedy for there was no debris on the road and no object was hit or struck. the seperated tread tumbled over and over in the wheel well area causing extensive damage to vehicle. i narrowly escaped hitting oncoming traffic and managed to limp the vehicle over to the shoulder. the tire remained inflated - no blow out, tread simply came apart! after recovering tread from roadway, the tire was changed with spare and further limped back to austin to original dealership. dealer service manger reviewed damage as well as drew my attention to opposite front left tire which appeared to have a "bubble" on its tread. the excursion, under factory warranty and the firestone steeltex a/t lt 265/75r16 tires original tires purchased with vehicle - i assumed ford would pay to replace tires and fix damage to vehicle. i am not pleased to report ford is pointing finger at firestone and informs me any damage claims must be directed to firestone hq. i filed incident report #818333 with firestone and was required to ship both tire & tread to their hq. after only 1/2 day investigation - firestone mailed form letter in return stateing "..tire failure did not result from defect in either materials or workmanship".but rather "insufficient air pressure". this is not true. i am meticulous in the care and maintence to this vehicle including its tires. pressure was checked just prior to our outing that same day. i would never put my family at risk due to negligence on my part. its sad to see neither firestone nor ford take any responsiblity for these defective tires.*ak

I have had three tire separationd in a three week time period.*ak

Treads separated and wrapped around front axle, causing the wheel to lock up. *ak

Driver side rear tire had a blowout while the consumer was driving. there was no damgage to the vehicle. firestone steeltex lt265/75r16, original equipment (dot unknown), moutned on a ford excursion 2000.*ak consumer adds that a third tire blewout 1 week later. all tires had plenty of tread and all have been replaced. *tt

While traveling 70-75mph on highway, heard a noise and saw smoke from rear mirrior. consumer was able to pull over to the shoulder. right rear tire sidewall blewout. firestone, lt265.75r16,119/steeltex.*ak consumer checked the remaining tires and found they too were defective. they had stress cracks in the rubber around the raised white lettering. you could lift the rubber as though it were hinged and some lifted as far to see the cord beneath. consumer replaced the remaining tires at own expense. consumer is asking to be reimbursed for monies paid. *jg

A drivers front firestone steeltex at tire, on a 2000 ford excursion exploded on july 7, 2002 on i-95 in walterboro, sc. my girlfriend agnes and a good friend dave were killed, daves 11 yr old son max suffered a severly broken right femer, daves wife, cheryl had several deep cuts and scrapes i have a severly broken left femer and knee damage. there was no indication that the tire was going to fail.

Had steeltex r4s tires on my brand new excursion (i bought it with 4,752 miles on it and my tire went at 35,001 miles), rotated and my oil changed june 10, 2002. noticed slits on the sides of these tires. ford sent me to firestone. guy at firestone assured me these tires were safe and i needed to be sure because i was leaving the next morning on a 1500 mile trip to california, with my 3 children. back to ford, tech didn't trust the tire, placed it on back left of my vehicle. june 13, 02 at 35,001 miles, my tire blew. i got to the quartzite exit in arizona and all of a sudden if felt as though the entire road had changed. tread separated and slapped the rear left quarter panel , causing damage, and discoloration to my running board. hp helped me change the tire after calling ford roadside and telling me it would be 2 hours. took the tire to firestone and fritts ford in riverside, on june 14, 02 told that it definately looked like a defective tire. went to sam's club and had it replaced with a bf goodrich. went to kingman, az and on june 20, 02 took vehicle to ford for estimate, per firestone hotline as to what i needed to do about the tire. on june 21, 02, i sent to firestone, documentation (letter, pictures, and estimate) of the tire blow out. in late july/to mid august 2002, a letter to me, was addressed to my parents address after telling firestone that i was on vacation, saying that their determination for my tire was that i was overloaded and underinflated???? i had 3 kids, an ice chest, a wheelchair, and two suitcases and some bedding in my truck. these tires are designed for 3500 lbs per tire..how was i overloaded and underinflated???? *ak

Replacement equipment with 3000 miles on a 2000 ford excursion. passenger rear tire had a blowout at 73 mph.*ak consumer states that he was slightly injured while changing the tire, firestone tire, no other tire information given. *slc

I own a 2000 ford excursion. original tires were firestone steeltex radial at lt 265/75r 16d. on 6/1/02 my family and i were on i-70 in illinois. we had a blowout of the right rear tire. the tire completely shredded. steering immediately became difficult. i swerved into the median of i-70 and slowed to a stop. i got out and observed the damage. i located an area dealer who had replacement tires. i did not want to further endanger my family. i had the tires replaced. i took photos of the tires. when we returned home, i contacted ford and firestone about these tires and inquired if they were part of the 2002 tire recall at firestone. i was informed that these tires were not part of the recall and that they were "perfectly safe" to operate on my vehicle. i informed them that they should investigate these tires too because of my recent accident. they offered to sell me new firestone tires which i declined. now, it is apparent that these tires were also defective and firestone has begun another recall of these tires. i then contacted firestone. i related the account of the incident and gave them the data on my tires. they stated that these tires were part of the recall and they started to give me information on how to have the tires replaced and to be reimbursed. when i told them that i obviously had to replace the tires back in june of 2002, they informed me that their recall and reimbursement plan only covered tires that were replaced after march of 2003. i replaced my tires too "early" to be involved in this recall! given no other recourse, i am now filing this complaint. how can firestone not reimburse me for tires that were obviously defective? they endangered the safety of my family and caused me to replace the tires long before their service life. now they tell me that i replaced them too early? please let me know what other avenues might be available to get firestone to take responsibility for their defective tires and reimburse me for the cost of new tires.*ak

This is our second tire blowout and third tire problem with these firestone steeltex a/t tires. the 1st blow out i contacted firestone and even sent them what was left of the tire and all i received back was a form letter stating that the tire was driven on while under inflated. which i know is not true because i check the tires before going on any road trip and inflate to the recommended pressure. the first blow out was november 1, 2001 while my wife was driving the excursion and this time i was driving it going around 75 mph. both times, the tire has caused damage to the vehicle. my wife and i feel lucky that both times we were able to control the vehicle and bring it to a stop safely. but i can easily see how someone could loose control under this situation. you need to get all of these tires off the road immediatly. i believe these tires are dangerous not just to the drivers of the vehicles, but also to anyone else on the road with them. please contact me if you have any further questions. sincerely: ken lubbering. *ak

Tread of tire detached from sidewall at speed. no damage to tread or sidewall prior to blowout. this problem sounds extremely similar to earlier "tread separation" issues. i can send a digital picture if desired.*ak

I own a utility construction company with some 30 trucks and several trailers. i take vehicle maintenance and tire psi very seriously. on a trip from st. charles, il. to cincinnati, oh. i noticed a vibration and pulled over twice to check it out and found nothing. at about 100 miles i had a catastrophic tire failure, the entire tread had separated and damaged the truck and the trailer i was hauling. i contacted firestone, they sent me a claim form to which i completed and sent back with the tire. their reply was that the tire had been run underinflated. this had never been the case. please contact me for more info and the tire damage photos. john spira. *jb *****dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis*****770829

Vehicle = 2000 ford excursion. ires = firestone steeltex while traveling on i-80 eastbound from salt lake city, utah to park city, utah, the right (passenger side) front tire on the vehicle blew out. the vehicle was traveling at a spped of approximately 55 mph and did not hit any debris or anything else on the road. the tire was completely distroyed. minor body damage occured. a new firestone tire was purchased to replace the distroyed tire. there were no injurys or loss of control of the vehicle.*ak

Front tires wore quickly and badly on outside of tires. *ak (tiresize: lt26575r16) (tiresize: lt26575r16)

Pe00 020; while traveling on highway about 65mph and without prior warning right passenger's side tire tread separated from wheel. firestone, steel tex, lt 265-75r16. *ak

Reimbursement request solicited by firestone safety campaign.*mr numerous splits were discovered in the sidewall off all four tires mounted on the vehicle. after discussions with the dealer, a local firestone rep agreed to sell the consumer four new firestone steeltex radial at load range d tires at a prorated price. ten months later the right rear tire experienced what firestone refers to as rapid air loss. the consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle. once again the tires had to be replaced. the vehicle was taken to a different dealer who indicated that the tire were too light duty for the size and weight of the vehicle. the consumer purchased four michelin load range e tires. the consumer received a recall in reference to the firestone tires and requested reimbursement. the letter only offered reimbursement for tires purchased after march 1, 2003. *nm

Noticed split in sidewalls on all 4 tires at approx. 21300, we changed the worst out to the spare. went to a firestone dealer, who did a courtesy check and told us all 4 tires were bad this included the spare that had less than 300 miles on it. he said it was "road hazard" not a factory defect and that we needed to purchase new tires. when i said i was going to pusue this farther he told us we may not make it home on the back tire (43 miles) and that we needed to change it i ask to what we had already taken the worst one off the truck. i then called the dealership i purchased the truck from and they understood but said they could do nothing and recommended i call ford to open a folder, i called ford they recorded the complaint and said they could do nothing. they gave me the firestone # i then called firestone they had me go get two opinions from non-firestone dealers both said tire failure, and were to contact the firestone dealer. we have not heard back from firestone.*ak (tiresize: 265 75 r16)

We were driving down highway at posted speed (65) and had been driving for approximately 30 miles at time of tire failure. just a few moments (approx 1 minute) before the failure, the vehicle seemed to want to "wander" a bit as if a tire were a bit low. then there was a loud explosion, the vehicle dropped to the right rear, we got a lot of vibration and loud internal noise. we applied the brakes and manuevered to the side of the road. both sidewalls had blown completely free of tread "belt" separating fairly uniformly along a line roughly 1 inch below the tread. tire was in 3 distinct pieces, all 3 pieces in tact and wrapped around the wheel and axle. only visible break in interior surface of tread was a piece of the steel belt material protruding into the tire approx 3/8 inch. otherwise, interior surface clean and smooth. no external punctures of any kind. explosion was violent and feel anti-lock brakes saved the day for us. person following behind said they had never seen a tire explode like that (i.e. very visible from several hundred feet behind). we have photos and the remains of destroyed tire, plus all 3 of the other originals if needed. immediately replaced all 4 with another brand.*ak (dot number: vnw81xy459 tiresize: 265/75r16)

I entered on freeway and was getting up to freeway speed when right rear tire separated. i was towing a 32' travel trailer. we started to jacknife. i accelerated and used my trailer brake to straighten it out, then i started to apply brakes and again started to jacknife in opposite direction. so i again accelerated and used my trailer brakes to straighten out, then i tried to brake and slow again and we started to jacknife, so i again accelerated and used my trailer brakes. the trailer whipped around and slammed into the driver side of the excursion. broke loose, tipped over, totaling trailer and damaging excursion. it whipped us around and shook us up pretty good. (tiresize: lt26575r16)