Toyota's 4Runner offers Firestone Wilderness AT II tires, which is not part of the recall, as the base tire among four tire possibilities. B's OK, but even on my car, the first thing I look for is an A rating before I buy a tire. I wouldn't put any of that cheap stuff on mine. Likewise it is the tire maker's responsibility to evaluate and rate a tire's temperature grades. Clarence Ditlow, head of the National Center for Auto Safety in Washington, said he does not buy that explanation.
Some analysts suggest that the vehicle's sheer profitability is a factor.
The selection of C-rated tires may have been exacerbated by Ford's recommendation that owners inflate the tires to 26 pounds per square inch, lower than Firestone's recommendation of 30 psi. I was surprised to find that Ford itself was willing to buy a tire with a C rating. It's going to increase the percentage of failures of that tire over time. Since the recall of the 6.5 million Firestone tires on Aug. 9, Ford had maintained that a range of 26 to 30 psi is acceptable. If a driver chooses to run at low inflation, all bets are off.