But in a properly designed vehicle, tire failure should not cause a fatal accident. Most Explorers are equipped with Firestone tires, so when tire failure occurs on the vehicles it most often involves Firestones. If most Explorers were equipped with other tires, more of those would be failing. If you think Firestone tires are extraordinarily dangerous, look at the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a sport utility vehicle equipped with Goodyear tires. Government statistics show that 7.6 percent of Grand Cherokees rollovers from 1990 to 1998 involved tire defects - far higher than the 1 percent for Firestone tires on the Explorer.
News reports show that Explorers with many different brands of tires roll over.
Ford knows there is a problem with the Explorer. Ford said the changes were designed to reduce chances of rollovers and decrease wear on tires. This change shows Ford now realizes it has been putting the wrong tires on the vehicle for years. And in what amounts to a tacit admission that it has been recommending the wrong tire pressure for Explorers, on September 22 Ford finally began recommending a tire pressure of 30 pounds per square inch. That's a reversal of Ford's previous endorsement of a tire pressure of 26 psi.