NHTSA Complaint #747330 — 1997 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER

I WAS ONE OF THE FORTUNATE FORMER OWNERS OF FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES. ON JANUARY 28,2000 I VISITED A LOCAL TIRE KINGDOM INC TIRE DEALERSHIP IN CLEARWATER FLORIDA FOR A POSSIBLE FRONT END ALIGNMENT AND TIRE BALANCING BECAUSE I WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT A VIBRATION IN MY FRONT END OF MY 97 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER. I DO MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING @ 60-70MPH AT THE TIME I HAD 34K MILES ON THE ODOMETER. WHEN THE MECHANIC STARTED WORKING ON MY CAR HE BEGAN REMOVING THE TIRES FROM MY SUV TO ROTATE AND BALANCE MY TIRES. HE NOTICED THAT TWO OF MY TIRES HAD SIGNS OF BELT SEPARATION AND THE TIRES WERE NO LONGER USABLE. I ACTUALLY WITNESS THE CONDITION OF THESE TIRES . IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT THE TIRES BE REPLACED. WHICH I IMMEDIATELY APPROVED THEM TO DO. I ACTUALLY REPLACED ALL FOUR TIRES. AT A COST OF APPROX. $400.00. AS WE ALL KNOW FIRESTONE BEGAN THE RECALL OF WILDERNESS AT TIRES PRODUCED AT THE DECATUR PLANT EXPERIENCED AN INCREASED RATE OF TREAD SEPARATION CLAIMS.*AK (DOT NUMBER: W2 TIRESIZE: P235X15)