The Ford Motor Company recommended tonight that owners of Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles inflate their tires to 30 pounds per square inch, instead of the 26 pounds that the automaker has recommended for the last 10 years. Ford agreed to the change tonight, but pointed out that Goodyear tires on Explorers had performed with virtually no problems at a pressure of 26 pounds. Ford also noted that even Firestone executives had agreed until the last few weeks that 26 pounds was an acceptable pressure.
Higher pressure allows a tire to support more weight and go faster with less risk of failure.
According to tire industry guidelines, the higher pressure should allow tires on the Ford Explorer to carry an additional 500 pounds. The higher pressure also raises the maximum speed at which the tires are certified to operate for at least 10 minutes, to 108 miles per hour from 106 miles per hour. The top speed of the Explorer, which is restricted by a computer chip in the engine, is 99 miles per hour. At 26 pounds, the tires also have the combined capacity to carry nearly 3,000 pounds in addition to the weight of the vehicle itself. But the weight of the Explorer is not evenly distributed, falling most heavily on the left rear tire, which has proved the most prone to failure.