2002 FORD F SUPER DUTY — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

PURCHASED 6 TOYO HT OPEN COUNTRY TIRES. 4 OF THE 6 HAVE SEPERATED

SET OF 5 UNIROYAL LIBERATOR TIRES PURCHASED NEW, LT265-75-16 LOAD RANGE E, 2002 F-250 4X4 (OEM SIZE) *THESE TIRES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE THRU WAL-MART WHERE THEY WERE PURCHASED AND INSTALLED. THE FOLLOWING OCCURRENCES WERE/ARE DUE TO DEFECTIVE TIRES, NOT ANY ACTIONS COMMITTED BY WAL-MART, THE INSTALLER/SELLER. OWNER OF VEHICLE IS CERTIFIED MECHANIC AND MAINTAINS VEHICLE & TIRES TO OEM SPECS. AT APPROX. 10,000 MILES ON TIRES, WE EMBARKED ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY TRIP FROM FLORIDA TO IDAHO AND BACK, TRAVELING THRU UTAH, NOTICED AN IMBALANCE AT 70MPH. ENTERING IDAHO THE IMBALANCE NOW OCCURRED AT ALL SPEEDS. INSPECTION OF ALL TIRES REVEALED DRIVER-SIDE REAR TIRE TREAD HAD A PRONOUNCED BULGE A FOOT LONG IN THE CENTER OF TREAD. SPARE TIRE WAS INSTALLED, AND VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO WAL-MART IN BOISE. (MANAGER VERIFIED TREAD/BELT SEPARATION, TIRE STILL AT 70PSI.) REPLACED WITH GOODYEAR WRANGLER SAME SIZE. RETURNING TO FLORIDA, ANOTHER IMBALANCE OCCURRED ON THE INTERSTATE IN SOUTH-DAKOTA. INSPECTION REVEALED DRIVER-SIDE FRONT TREAD BULGED AND SEPARATING. THAT TIRE WAS REPLACED AT WAL-MART WITH A GOODYEAR WRANGLER. TRAVELING THRU WEST-MEMPHIS, THE ENTIRE PASSENGER-SIDE REAR TIRE TREAD DETACHED WITHOUT WARNING AND DEMOLISHED THE REAR QUARTER PANEL AND TAIL-LIGHT. (TIRE DID NOT BLOW-OUT/LOSE AIR PRESSURE, 80 PSI) VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN 3 MILES ON STEEL BELT TO HOTEL OFF OF INTERSTATE. SPARE TIRE WAS INSTALLED AND VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO WAL-MART FOR 3 GOODYEAR WRANGLERS. ALL 3 INCIDENTS HAPPENED ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. TIRES WERE AT CORRECT AIR-PRESSURE AND INSTALLED CORRECTLY. TIRES WERE NOT/HAD NOT BEEN OVERLOADED. WE SAVED THE TREAD SEPARATION TIRE CARCASS AND THE 2 REMAINING "GOOD" TIRES.

MY 2002 F250 SUPERDUTY WITH 7.3L DIESEL WILL NOT TURN AT PARKING SPEEDS AND HIGHER SPEEDS IF APPLYING THE BRAKE. I HAVE CONTACTED FORD AND OTHER OWNERS WITH THE SAME VEHICLE AND THEY ALL SAY IT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE 7.3L POWERED SUPERDUTY TRUCKS. I BELIEVE THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION AND DO NOT WANT TO BE PUT INTO A POSITION WHERE I MAY HURT SOMEBODY DUE TO A FAULTY DESIGNED STEERING SYSTEM. INCREASING RPM DOES NOT HELP. MY TALKING TO EXPERTS HAS FOUND THE GENERAL CONSENSUS TO BE THAT THE HYDRO BOOST PUMP DOES NOT PRODUCE ENOUGH VOLUME AND WAS A POOR DESIGN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. MY RESEARCH ON THE ISSUE ALSO FOUND THAT THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS COMPLAINED EARLY ON AND BECAUSE THERE WERE NO DEATHS IT WAS DISMISSED AS A NON ISSUE. I THINK THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AS I HAVE ONLY 40,000 MILES AND THIS IS A DANGEROUS CONDITION THAT HAS ONLY FORTUNATELY NOT CAUSED ANY DEATHS THAT I'M AWARE OF.

MY 2002 F250 SUPERDUTY WITH 7.3L DIESEL WILL NOT TURN AT PARKING SPEEDS AND HIGHER SPEEDS IF APPLYING THE BRAKE. I HAVE CONTACTED FORD AND OTHER OWNERS WITH THE SAME VEHICLE AND THEY ALL SAY IT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE 7.3L POWERED SUPERDUTY TRUCKS. I BELIEVE THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION AND DO NOT WANT TO BE PUT INTO A POSITION WHERE I MAY HURT SOMEBODY DUE TO A FAULTY DESIGNED STEERING SYSTEM. INCREASING RPM DOES NOT HELP. MY TALKING TO EXPERTS HAS FOUND THE GENERAL CONSENSUS TO BE THAT THE HYDRO BOOST PUMP DOES NOT PRODUCE ENOUGH VOLUME AND WAS A POOR DESIGN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. MY RESEARCH ON THE ISSUE ALSO FOUND THAT THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS COMPLAINED EARLY ON AND BECAUSE THERE WERE NO DEATHS IT WAS DISMISSED AS A NON ISSUE. I THINK THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AS I HAVE ONLY 40,000 MILES AND THIS IS A DANGEROUS CONDITION THAT HAS ONLY FORTUNATELY NOT CAUSED ANY DEATHS THAT I'M AWARE OF.

TRAVELING ON A BUSY HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH; THE SPARK PLUG ON MY 5.4L V8 TRITON BLEW OUT OF ITS SOCKET. (ANY MECHANIC WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS) THIS CAUSED AN IMMEDIATE BANG AND VERY ROUGH RUNNING CONDITION. AS SOON AS IT HAPPENED; THERE WAS AN IMMEDIATE LOSS OF POWER WHICH IN TURN; CAUSED A RAPID REDUCTION IN VEHICLE SPEED. NOT TO MENTION, THE DISTRACTION THAT OCCURRED THAT CAUSED THE LACK OF FOCUS ON SURROUNDING VEHICLES AND OTHER POSSIBLE HAZARDS. THIS IS THE SECOND OCCURRENCE OF A SEPARATE SPARK PLUG BLOWING OUT OF ITS SOCKET ON THE SAME MOTOR. THIS WILL COST SEVERAL THOUSAND IN REPAIRS AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE. ON TOP OF THE MONEY SPENT REPAIRING THE LAST INCIDENT. THERE IS A DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF THIS SITUATION WITH THE MORE EXTREME HAVING FIRE ISSUES. THE FIRE IS BECAUSE ATOMIZED FUEL IS SPRAYED INTO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT DUE TO THERE BEING A HOLE WHERE THE SPARK PLUG IS SUPPOSED TO BE. THERE WAS NO CRASH, FIRE OR INJURY IN THIS CASE. HOWEVER, IT WAS CLOSE TO HAVING ALL THREE. *TR