Ford-Firestone tread separation case

1992 1998 1998 1999

01 02 03 04

21 cases with , Sam Boyden from Sam reported to 1999 noticed another
Firestone ATX tires State Farm Insurance NHTSA but no 30 such cases.
and 14 of them with received calls of follow up to the .
Ford explorer. complaints complaints
. . .
 The recall and further Investigation
In May 2000, after accumulating 90
complaints involving four deaths, 2000, the NHTSA had recorded 68
NHTSA opened a formal fatalities in rollovers of Ford
investigation encompassed all 47 Explorer SUVs caused by
million AT, ATX and Wilderness tires sudden tread separation of
made by Firestone over the period Firestone tires..
1990-2000.
On August 9, 2000, Bridgestone-
Firestone announced a recall of 6.5
September 19 2000, there were
million Firestone Wilderness, AT,
2,200 complaints involving 103
ATX and ATX II P235/75R15 tires.
deaths and more than 400 injuries

Firestone Tires included in the recall were installed on Ford Explorer (model years 1991-2000), Mercury Mountaineer
(model years 1996-2000), Ford Ranger (pick-up truck model years 1991-2000), Ford F-series Light Trucks (model years
1991-1994), Ford Bronco (model years 1991-1994), Mazda Bseries(pick-up truck model years 1994-1996), and Mazda
Navajo (model years 1991-1994).
 Recall process
 Firestone suggested a three-phase recall procedure since Bridgestone-
Firestone did not have the production capacity to do it faster.
 In the first phase, customers in the southern most states
(Florida, Texas) as most accidents had occurred in these states
 the second phase consisted of the states Georgia, North Carolina, etc., and
 the last phase would deal with the northern most states, e.g., New York.
 The entire recall process was expected to take more than 6 months.
 The recall was a major blow to Firestone, which was
once one of the most admired corporations in the United States
Thank you