Jen

Just rented a Ford Explorer from Hertz. Would like to know if anyone has noticed if the tires have been changed since the Wilderness AT events?

Thanks.
Jen

x

Ya know it just wasn't the tires, although the tires got blamed for it. The Ford Explorers DO have a high rollover rate because of the way they were designed. Ford was sued a number of times with huge payouts BEFORE the tire thing hit. Do a search on lawcrawler or the other legal sites and you will find a lot of lawsuits against the Explorers. Nice PR move by Ford blaming the tires manufacturers...

Barbara

and consumers continue to purchase them as if nothing ever happened.....?

just

Barbara:
Yep it IS amazing isn't it??
Cars the size of Rhinos. They are unsafe, not economical, etc
But it is the the thing to do....

xx

How many rollovers occurred when the vehicles were driven at the appropriate speed for the conditions? Have had an explorer since 1991 still no rollover. Loved the wilderness tires too . Bummer that we had to change to something else. We had wilderness tires to begin with and then purchased a second set. Still no problems. Changed them in the recall, miss them.

Is it the rollover or is it the blow outs/tread separation that cause the roll overs?

Jen have you asked Hertz? I'm sure they'd be liable if they hadn't responded to the recall.

Attorney

Having worked on some of the Firestone litigation, I can tell you the problem lies with both the Explorer and the tire. Explorers have a higher rollover rate than other SUVs. One trick to reduce this rollover rate is to change the tire pressure. You lower the tire pressure more than it should be, this increases the stability of the vehicle. However, when certain tires are run below pressure (including the Wilderness) they have a tendency to blow out. See it is a problem with both. I love SUVs and wouldn't give up the convenience of mine but I also would never use Firestone tires on it or have an Explorer. Can't tell you what the rental companies are doing on this one though, I would call HErtz and ask.

just

Hey attorney, if you had worked on the litigation wouldn't you be saying that the tire tread SEPARATED rather than blew out? That was the essence of the litigation.

Ei

Back to the question at hand...

How are we supposed to know? Ask your rental agent.

trollinghere

I heard all the tires they took off consumers' SUV were put on the rentals to save money. That way, the rental operations can share in the legal bonanza. I understand Hertz puts them on inside out...

Dick

I am sure that the tires on rental vehicles were replarced.

1. It was free

2. The rental companies would not want the exposure of potentially being liable in case of an accident. Who do you think the jury would blame if Hertz used the tires nn question?