-- Ford begins production of the Explorer for its first model year, 1991. The
Firestone 15" ATX tire is original equipment when the vehicle is shipped to dealers.
1992
State Farm Insurance establishes its liaison office with NHTSA. State Farm is the
largest insurer of autos in the U.S. and they are the only insurance company with a
liaison office and working relationship with NHTSA.
1994
July -- Union workers go on strike at five Firestone plants.
The Decatur, Illinois, plant is struck the hardest as almost all employees are union
workers. The strike lasts until December 1996.
Fall of this year Firestone begins production of 16" Wilderness AT tires.
1995
Second evolution of the Ford Explorer begins production.
Firestone 15" ATX II tires begin production. They replace the 15" ATX as OE
on the Ford Explorer.
Ford begins process for production of Explorers in Venezuela.
January -- Firestone begins hiring 2,300 replacement workers
needed to work in the five plants affected by the strike. Of these workers, 943 will work
at the Decatur plant.
July -- Ford Venezuela approves the PSW warrant, Ford’s
stamp of approval on the tire design, for Firestone Venezuela to begin production of the
16" Wilderness AT (2+2+1) tire. Firestone suggests (2+2+1) tire design for tires for
Venezuelan-made Explorers.
1996
First production year of Firestone’s 15" Wilderness AT tires as OE on the
Ford Explorer. They replace the 15" ATX II as OE on the Explorer.
February -- Ford Venezuela begins production of Explorers.
During the first five months of production Ford imports 3,010 15" ATX II tires from
Firestone’s Decatur plant as Firestone’s Venezuela plant has yet to begin
production. Ford Venezuela also uses 16" Wilderness AT tires produced at Firestone
Venezuela during this calendar year and in subsequent years.
June 18 -- Ford Venezuela approves the PSW warrant on
Firestone Venezuela’s tire plans for the 15" ATX II. At Firestone
Venezuela’s recommendation, the tire plans state that the tire design is to be a
(2+2+1). Firestone Venezuela begins production of 15"ATX II tires for the Ford
Explorers produced in Venezuela. This ends Ford Venezuela’s need to import tires from
the U.S.
December -- Firestone settles its labor dispute with the
striking union and they return to work during the month of December.
1997
August 14 -- Ford Venezuela approves the PSW warrant for
Firestone Venezuela’s production of the 15" Wilderness AT tire, the new OE tire
for the Explorer. Firestone recommends that the 15" Wilderness AT tire be a (2+2).
This is different than the old Explorer OE tire, 15" ATX II tire which was
recommended by Firestone to be a (2+2+1).
1998
Early in this year or possibly during the latter half of 1997 Ford receives its first
reports of tread separation from a company fleet of Ford Explorers, fitted with 16"
Wilderness AT tires, in Saudi Arabia.
July -- Samuel Boyden, Associate Research Administrator for
State Farm, transmits an e-mail to William Duckwitz, NHTSA liaison with State Farm. This
e-mail contains data from State Farm that shows repeated tread separations on Firestone
15" ATX tires from 1994 through the middle of 1998. It appears that this e-mail was
forwarded to Stephen Beretzky, NHTSA tire analyst.
1999
Early in this year Ford salesmen in Saudi Arabia receive reports of tread separations
on Ford Explorers used for recreational or personal use. Upon receiving this information
in Dearborn, a team is established to analyze the problem. This team, along with
representatives of Firestone, goes to Saudi Arabia to review the tires and the
circumstances under which they failed.
Mid-year, Samuel Boyden of State Farm, contacts William Duckwitz of NHTSA, and verbally
updates him about an upward trend of tread separations with Firestone 15" ATX
tires. It appears that Mr. Duckwitz does not pass this information on to Stephen Beretzky,
NHTSA tire analyst.
July - Sept. -- Ford replaces Firestone 16" Wilderness
AT tires in the Middle East with Goodyear 16" tires. Ford changes the tires on 6,768
vehicles at their own expense. Firestone tells Ford that they believe there is nothing
wrong with the tires and no change is required.
November -- Because of the incidents in Saudi Arabia with the
16" tires, Ford asks Firestone to commence a test of Firestone tires on Ford
Explorers in the U.S. This test becomes known as the "Southwest Study" as it is
conducted in the states of Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. Dealers ask consumers who bring in
Ford Explorers with high-mileage tires to allow these tires to be changed at Ford’s
expense. The tires procured by these dealers are used for the study conducted by Ford.
Ford similarly acquires high mileage tires through some of their leased Explorers. These
tires are studied by the Firestone experts. Firestone investigators examine 243 tires,
primarily through visual inspection, but some are cut apart for a more thorough review.
Firestone also sends a few of these tires to Ford so that their investigators can cut them
apart for study. The study is completed in April of 2000. Neither Firestone nor Ford
investigators are able to detect a problem among this sample of tires.
December -- Samuel Boyden, State Farm, contacts William
Duckwitz, NHTSA, and verbally communicates to him data demonstrating a continuing upward
trend of the Firestone 15" ATX tire tread separations. Once again, it appears that
the information is not passed on to Stephen Beretzky, NHTSA tire analyst.
At the end of this year, a Firestone audit in Venezuela discovers mislabeled tires are
being manufactured at that plant.
2000
February -- Houston, Texas TV station KHOU does a story on
tread separation of Firestone tires used on Ford Explorers. The TV station gives the NHTSA
800 telephone number for consumers to report complaints. Consumers start calling in with
reports of tread separations on Firestone tires.
February 16 -- Due to reports similar to those in Saudi
Arabia, Ford replaces Firestone ST6 tires at their own expense with Goodyear tires on 316
vehicles in Malaysia and Taiwan. Firestone once again informs Ford that they believe there
is nothing wrong with the tires and that no change is required.
March 6 -- Based on the information NHTSA has received,
primarily from complaints stemming from the Houston, Texas TV story, the agency begins its
Initial Evaluation (IE) of Firestone tires.
April -- "Southwest Study" is completed but no
evidence of a problem is discovered.
May -- Ford replaces Firestone 15" and 16" tires on
40,000 vehicles in Venezuela with Goodyear tires at their own expense (99% of all recalled
tires are produced at Firestone’s Venezuela plant). Once again Firestone informs Ford
they do not believe there is anything wrong with the tires and that no change is required.
May 2 -- NHTSA officially opens its investigation with
Preliminary Evaluation (PE-0020), regarding allegations of excessive Firestone tire tread
separations primarily found on Ford Explorers.
May 10 -- NHTSA sends letters to Ford and Firestone
requesting information in connection with PE-0020.
June 8 -- Ford requests that Firestone provide all
information that they gave to NHTSA relating to PE-0020. This information includes the claims
data that will demonstrate the high accident rate of the tires.
July 28 -- Ford receives Firestone’s information sent to
NHTSA, including the claims data from Firestone on the 15" ATX and ATX II,
15" Wilderness AT, and 16" Wilderness AT tires. Ford begins analysis of this
data.
August 4 -- Ford’s analysis of the claims data shows an upward
trend in tread separations in the 15" ATX and ATX II produced in North America, and
15" Wilderness AT tires produced at the Decatur, Illinois, plant. Ford notifies
Firestone and after jointly reviewing the claims data, both companies agree to contact
NHTSA.
August 8 -- Firestone and Ford contact NHTSA on the need for
a tire recall.
August 9 -- Firestone announces the recall of all North
American produced P235/75R15 15" ATX and ATX II tires. They also recall P235/75R15
15" Wilderness AT tires produced at the Decatur, Illinois, plant. From 1991 to the
present, Firestone has produced 14.4 million tires, but estimates that only 6.5 million
are still on the road today.
August 9 -- NHTSA announces that it will continue its
investigation into the crashes that have killed 46 people even though Firestone announced
its recall.
August -- Ford and Firestone begin analyzing tires received from the
recall. This analysis includes cutting them apart to see if the root cause of the tread
belt separations can be determined.
August 11 -- Rep. John Dingell sends a letter to Mr.
Masatoshi Ono, Chairman and CEO, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., asking Firestone to reimburse
consumers who replace their recalled tires with other name brand tires. An August 16th
response is requested.
August 15 -- Eight Ford investigators arrive at
Firestone’s Decatur, Illinois, plant. Also at the plant are investigators from
Bridgestone/Firestone U.S. and from the world headquarters in Japan.
August 16 -- Firestone announces that it will reimburse
consumers for recalled tires that were replaced at the owner’s expense between
January 1, 2000 and August 16, 2000, but that they will not be reimbursing customers after
August 16th.
August 16 -- A Kentucky court orders Firestone to continue
the reimbursement of customers for replacing the recalled tires until Firestone can prove
that they should do otherwise. The order goes into effect on August 17, 2000. In the days
following this order, Firestone files a motion to move the case to Federal Court. The
Federal Court has until September 14, 2000, to make its ruling in this matter.
August 17 -- Firestone agrees to reimburse consumers who
replace their recalled tires with a competitor’s tires.
August 17 -- Rep. Dingell sends a letter to NHTSA
Administrator Susan Bailey asking whether or not other tires produced at Firestone's
Decatur, Illinois, plant should be recalled.
August 21 -- Ford announces that it is suspending production
of the Explorer at three of its plants so as to free up 70,000 tires for the recall.
August 22 -- Firestone announces that it will be airlifting
tires from Japan to assist in the recall.
August 22 -- With the discovery of the mislabeled tires in
Venezuela, Ford asks Firestone to review which tires are mislabeled and to recall any and
all tires that do not meet proper specifications. See Firestone’s answer on
August 25, 2000.
August 24 -- Committee investigators meet with NHTSA for the
first time.
August 25 -- Firestone sends word to Ford that they do not
believe that it is necessary to recall any tires in Venezuela.
August 25 -- Committee investigators visit Ford world
headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
August 28 -- Committee investigators visit Firestone
headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
August 30 -- Venezuela’s Institute for the Defense and
Education of Consumers (INDECU) releases a report that states that it is their belief that
Firestone Venezuela and Ford Venezuela covered up the dangers of the Firestone tires.
Because of this, the INDECU believes that both Firestone Venezuela and Ford Venezuela are
at fault for the injuries and accidents that occurred due to tire separation.
August 30 -- NHTSA and Firestone meet to discuss NHTSA’s
concerns of tread separation found in other tires produced by Firestone not under recall.
August 31 -- After Firestone reviews NHTSA’s data on
tread separation on other Firestone tires, they inform NHTSA that they do not believe that
a recall is needed.
August 31 -- NHTSA reports that they now have linked 88
deaths to crashes involving Firestone tires.
August 31 -- Rep. Dingell writes to NHTSA asking when it
first received information concerning problems with the Firestone tires.
August 31 -- NHTSA upgrades PE-0020 to an Engineering
Analysis (EA), the next step in NHTSA’s investigation.
September 1 -- NHTSA releases a list of Firestone tires,
universe being approximately 1.4 million, that they believe consumers should replace. Many
of these tires were produced years ago and are unlikely to still be in use, but in the
event a consumer is still using them, NHTSA recommends replacement. The replacement of
these tires would be at the consumers expense as Firestone has not initiated a recall.
NHTSA also recommends steps to be taken by consumers to prevent the possible acceleration
of tread separation.
September 3 -- Fleishman-Hillard International Communications
Inc., resigns from the position they have held since July of this year as the public
relations firm for Firestone.
September 4 -- Firestone announces the recall of 15" and
16" Wilderness AT tires produced in Venezuela. (There are 62,000 tires in this
universe.) Firestone’s decision to recall comes after a weekend of negotiations with
INDECU.
September 6 -- Commerce Committee hearing is scheduled.
September 14 -- Ruling is due on whether the case will be
moved from Kentucky court to Federal Court.
