NHTSA Complaint #730427 — 1997 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER

AS YOU CAN SEE, I HAVE FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES. FORTUNATELY OR UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE NOT THE TIRES RECALLED. THEY WERE INSPECTED BY TWO DIFFERENT DEALERS AND THEY ARE A DIFFERENT SIZE (LARGER) AND THEY WERE MADE AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA PLANT. I HAVE ONLY HAD THE TIRES FOR ONE YEAR (JUNE 1999) AND HAVE ONLY PUT ABOUT 13,000 MILES ON THEM WHEN I EXPERIENCED A BLOW-OUT. MY TIRES ARE ALWAYS PROPERLY INFLATED - I WAS NOT IN A HOT CLIMATE - AND I WAS NOT GOING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I WAS GOING 35 MPH ON A MAIN STREET IN CINCINNATI, OHIO, IN JUNE. MY LEFT REAR TIRE LITERALLY EXPLODED - THE SOUND WAS DEAFENING, LIKE SHATTERED GLASS. FORTUNATELY, MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON WAS NOT WITH ME, BUT WHAT IF HE WAS AND SOMETHING WORSE HAD HAPPENED? ADDITIONALLY, ALTHOUGH NOT RELEVANT TO THE RECALL, THE TIRES MAKE THE VEHICLE HARDER TO CONTROL AND PROVIDE A VERY ROUGH RIDE. IF I ACCIDENTALLY HIT A POT HOLE, I BETTER HAVE BOTH HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. AND SINCE I HAVE HAD THE TIRES, I AM CONSTANTLY LOSING HUBCAPS - YES HUBCAPS (FOUR IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR). I DID NOT HAVE THESE PROBLEMS WITH THE GOODYEAR WRANGLERS THAT WERE ORIGINALLY INSTALLED ON THE VEHICLE (NO HANDLING PROBLEMS, NO LOST HUBCAPS). THE ONLY "GOOD" THING ABOUT THE TIRES ARE THEY ARE EXCELLENT IN THE SNOW AND ICE. WHAT I HOPE YOU CAN DO IS TO EXPAND THE RECALL. IF A CERTAIN MODEL OF CAR IS RECALLED, ALL MODELS ARE RECALLED REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ARE MADE. WITH THE BLOW-OUT I EXPERIENCED AND THE CURRENT RECALL, I DO NOT FEEL MY FAMILY IS SAFE. RESPECTFULLY, LINDA CATANZARO. *AK( DOT NUMBER: VD 66 TIRE SIZE: R 90 )