Anybody have Wilderness HT's commit suicide? I have 235-70-16's and one came apart. My Firestone dealer said he never seen any do this.

 

I also have the HT tires, they presnetly have 35,800 miles on them. The are getting worn and I wish they would be recalled, but they still "look" ok. I will probably get Dunlop AT radial rovers 285 - 75 16 when I can't hold off any longer. I will be moving from the 235's.


Well I finally replaced my HT tires today. Got them from the "Tirerack" and had them shipped to my installer. The complete change over was less than a week. I went with the Yokohama Geolander II + 265-75/16. The four tire change over, drive away price was 514.06. I don't have enough miles on it yet but it handles differently. Lots of shifting since I'm in the mountains. The speedo is off by about 10%, will contact ford to see what the computer adjustment costs. Anyone have any ideas? The reviews from the tirerack website convinced me to go with the Geolander II +. The comparison was even better than the BFG and Micheline (sorry about the lack of spelling). The Dunlaps got left in the dust. Key is if you have the 16 inch rims you don't have to spend much more than $500. for quality. My .02 cents.

 

I just had the same thing happen. I have 35,000 on my Wilderness HT 235/70/16. Traveling down the freeway and boom the front tire blew out. When I looked at it the whole sidewall was ripped off. Tire was is good shape. It is a shame that Firestone is putting lives at risk. What did you do about it? Have you reported it?

 

FIRESTONE AND FORD BOTH SAY THEY CAN'T HELP. FIRESTONE OFFERED $40 CREDIT FOR THE OLD TIRE BUT I WOULD RATHER KEEP THE EVIDENCE. LET ME KNOW WHAT THEY TELL YOU AND PLEASE DOCUMENT EVERYTHING FOR ME.

 

My truck had HTs on it when I bought it in April 2000. One of them had a lump in the sidewall and it and two others were continuously going flat (in a matter of hours). I took it to the dealer to see what he could do for me, but upon sticking his head out the door and seeing "HT" instead of "AT" on the side, he said he couldn't do anything for me.

I did keep them though, in case they change their mind eventually.

--jay.

 

Why risk it! I'd have those Firestones off any rig I owned so fast, they would blow from the speed that I did it!

A set of tires only cost $500-$800 dollars. That's a pretty cheap price for peace of mind. I did a 400 mile round trip from Tacoma to Salem and saw three Explorers on the side of the road with flats and FIRESTONE tires.....................

 

If that was to me, maybe I should clarify that while I did keep the tires, hoping for reimbursement at a later date, I did shoe the truck with some new rubber from Canadian Tire at $425 out of my pocket.

 

I have 29k miles on my stock Wilderness HT's now. Was planning on replaceing them next summer at 43k...now ya got me thinking. Up sizeing to a good (not Firestone) LT265/75R16 will be over $800 with a cheaper spare of the same size.

My Wilderness HT's were made in Canada. So is it the design, assembly, or the manufacturing plant???

 

You guys need to report this to the goverment so they can get Firestone to recall the HT tires as well.

 

I couldn't tell you exactly what their problem is, it's just that they all seem to be of the "same" type of design as far as tread pattern and such.

My tires only cost me about $550. We have this really cool tire chain in our area call Les Schwab Tires. They have excellent service and I have never had a tire go flat on my while driving. I once sucked up a 1" bolt and from the clicking I was hearing, just thought it was a rock. They fixed it right up and said the tire integrity is still intact. Went another 20k on that tire without a single problem.

You must be looking at some Goodyears or BFG's for that kinda price in a LT265/75/16. Mine are made in the good ol' USA. I know that the Firestones are too, but............. anyway, it's probably mostly just hype, but again, too many have had problems. I personally have never liked Firestone, and that goes way back to my childhood!

 

I am having the same problem with the HT Tires. I looked at my tire a couple days ago and noted I was past the steel belt. I took the tire off and am now attempting to get someone to give me an honest opinion regarding the interesting wear pattern. I found the DOT web site and will be reporting this to them.

Lets hope something positive happens in regards to the HT's too.

Here is the link for reporting.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hotline/

Er1k
Play Hard, Play Safe, Stupid Hurts.