[bugman]

Firestone didn't admit to anything. I believe that the final outcome was that it fell on the vehicles owner and tire pressure. Something that was out of Firestone's control.

But I could be wrong, I really didn't pay that much attention to it since I pay attention to the tires on my vehicles.

 

[79jasper]

I guess they didn't really admit to anything there either.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/firestone-tire-settles-with-ford/

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[badbart]

The company I work for uses Firestone TransForce H/T's on the fleet of Chevy 4x4 2500 crew cabs. these trucks hardly ever tow anything but they are always loaded with tools and supplies. They typically weigh 9000 lbs. The only weight fluctuation would be the fuel and number of passengers. The trucks came with Bridgestone tires when new. We have gotten as much as 106K miles out of the Bridgestone's and as much as 110K out of the Firestones. All our driving is Interstate but we get a lot of damage to them as these are used on crash sites to push or pull vehicles out of travel lanes so there is always debris present. But we rotate the tires every ten thousand miles and maintain 60 PSI all the way around. Wear pattern is perfect and have not had any blowouts. I have a set of Goodyear Trail Runners on my F350 dually and I'm pleased with them at this point but I'll probably go to the TransForce in the future. They just recently changed the tread pattern on them so we'll see if there's any change in longevity.

 

[350DRW]

How do the Firestone TransForce HT’s do in the winter?

 

[badbart]

How do the Firestone TransForce HT’s do in the winter?

I couldn't tell you. I work in Florida. It does well in rain though.

 

[wpetko]

All very good replies here, but nobody has said anything about tire age with regard to blowouts. Any tire that is over six years old is on borrowed time. This is especially true for trailers because most of us will, realistically, never wear out the tread on our trailer tires. I encourage everyone here to read my article, “Tires for Towable RVs and Tow Vehicles” which is published on www.thisoldcampsite.com .
Also, if most of your off reading is done in sand at the beach then a highway tread tire will work fine for you. Lowering air pressure in your tires works much better in sand than any kind of a more aggressive tread pattern. Of course, you may want an all terrain tread for cosmetic purposes. ‘Nothing wrong with that. I do that myself. These, after all, are 4X4 trucks.

 

[badbart]

I assumed everyone has knowledge on old tires. As for RV's, I have gone to a 14 ply truck tire on mine. It came with Goodyear Marathons. At 5 years I had tread separation on two of them. One of them blew out sitting in the yard! They were simply not up to the task. I got a deal on 6 Super Cargo heavy duty truck tires I think I got them for $112.

 

[69mach1377]

You'd be surprised by how many don't know about the DOT date stamp...

 

[DENNY]

I just had a left front tire blow on me two days ago. This was on my low millage 99 DRW I found two years ago. Tires looked great with no checking. I did not give the age that much thought. Well when it went, it did 1,500 bucks worth of damage. Just about the price of the seven new tires (new spare also) I got yesterday. I hate throwing out anything that is not fully used up but in this case I had the rest of the tires taken to the dump. I would not even put them on a trailer.
DENNY

 

[69mach1377]

And how old were they?

 

[DENNY]

15 years, they looked great, I never though to look for a date stamp.
DENNY

 

[meteor56]

I have an '08 F350 DRW that I bought used with Bridgestones. They needed replacement so I put on TransForce HTs. They lasted about 35000 miles, with about half that running empty. This past month I put on a set of Kumho Crugen HT51s on the rear. Never again. Their only good point so far is that they were only $119 at WalMart. Mileage yet to be determined. These things are so stiff that even with a full 60 gal aux tank, and the 5er attached, that they will bounce sideways at any pothole or washboarding. Not a comfortable ride at all. They do carry a 3 Mountain Peak rating so I will get to check that out late this fall in AK and BC.

 

[badbart]

I correct myself. The Firestone tires we use are the TransForce AT's, not HT's. The new design is called the AT2. They took the place of the AT.

 

[Texkenusmc]

I never get three years out of a set on my truck and replace all my trailer tires every 4 years. I lived through a bad role over with a camper and learned my lesson back when I was in my mid 20s. Had a trailer blowout and she took me for a ride.

 

[oilcan1001]

I like to make sure my rubber is always in good order, ESPECIALLY when towing one of my trailers.
A blowout is the last thing I want, ever.
just my .02

 

[powerdiver]

Towing a 32 ft camper truck was squirrelly going down the road

I just replaced the Firestone transforce AT tires on my 2006 F-250 because the right rear tire was wore out, we had just got back from camping in late June so I wanted a new set of tires before we went camping this past week. I bought a set of Blacklion tires from our Napa dealer i noticed the truck felt squirrelly I increased the pressure fro 65 to 70 that seemed to make a difference for the better, well we went on our camping trip and the truck felt terrible I only drove about 50 mph down the interstate on the way back I increased the tire pressure on the camp after finding them at around 55 psi instead of 65 psi that was an improvement on handling I called the dealer where I bought the tires and they are going to contact there distributor Im hoping to hear back from them today. I never had this issue pulling our camper along with a battery golf cart in the bed with Firestone tires lesson learned a good deal on the price of the tire isnt alway's the best way to go.:|

 

[69mach1377]

Yeah, never heard of black lion tires...

 

[haul_n_horses2]

Need new tires for '02 F350 DRW Tow vehicle.

I have not posted on these forums in nearly a decade but now I need your collective wisdom. My 2002 F350 7.3 PSD DRW is need of new shoes. I really do not drive this vehicle except to tow a heavy horse trailer. Most I have scaled with 5 horses is ~26K. I have had amazing performance from the Michelin XPS traction tires in all positions but these tires are no longer available. They are only available in a Rib tread and this will leave my spinning my wheels in the wet pastures and even if you park on grass pastures, a bit of rain will turn it into a muddy slop in no time. So I am hoping someone can recommend some tires for heavy towing with a more aggressive tread. The Michelin XPS tires are fully wrapped in steel (sidewalls and steel belts under the tread). They are very heavy but very stiff. With moving ballast in the caboose, I do not need soft tires wallowing down the road. Other than the XPS Ribs in 235/85 R16 are there any others out there? Thanx in advance.

 

[tomshep]

I have had good luck with the BFG Commercial T/As referenced early in this thread, both on my DRW and my trailer with 16" LT tires. I've worn them out, but never had one blow or replaced due to a failure. I get them at Discount Tire. They may offer a comparable tire in a more aggressive tread pattern.

Tom

 

[haul_n_horses2]

BFG Commercial Traction vs. GY Wrangler Duratrac?

I have had good luck with the BFG Commercial T/As referenced early in this thread, both on my DRW and my trailer with 16" LT tires. I've worn them out, but never had one blow or replaced due to a failure. I get them at Discount Tire. They may offer a comparable tire in a more aggressive tread pattern.

Thank you for your reply. I suspect you are using the BFG Commercial T/A All-Season version of this tire. They make a Commercial T/A Traction version which would work better in our environment.

Tom, were you using the all season version or the traction version? Anybody have success with Wrangler Duratracs on a dually? Especially in Snow Country. thanx