Tire Bubble problems of the 1997 Ford Explorer

After having my '97 Ford Explorer sport firestone wilderness at tires checked on Tuesday, August 22 at 5:00 pm, I was given a printout from bob davidson Ford that confirmed that my wilderness at's were not part of the firestone recall as they did not have the needed "vd" dot code. The dealer's report read, "not applicable to recall. Tires of ok dot (w2hl). I was leary about driving the Explorer on interstate 95 from baltimore to delaware but had to join my wife who was assisting her 85 year old mother who is recovering from a broken pelvis in wilmington. Returning home at about 10:15 pm from wilmington, del. To baltimore, MD. On Wednesday, August 23, the Explorer started to swim on the road, noticeably swerving. Just then a man in a car on my right started yelling at me and pointing to the rear of my vehicle. I realized something was very wrong and pulled over immediately. The tire was flat. Although it was not a "blowout" as has caused many accidents in Explorers over the past few months, the tire went flat quickly, in a couple minutes at most. When I took off the tire and looked inside, there were large air bubbles inside the tire. In addition, the tire was shredded in several sections inside. The outside of the tire was mushy and spongey. Early on Thursday, August 24, I took the tire to the firestone tire center and they informed me that I had hit something on the road that had caused the tire to lose air. However, there was no puncture and the inside of the tire was obviously ripped apart rather extensively. When we consulted with other tire dealers about the condition of our other three tires on the vehicle they pointed out the cracks all along the edge of the tread, indicating that the tread is noticeably beginning to separate from the rest of the tire. As the tires are in "mid-life" but not on the formal recall list, we are stuck with tires unsafe to drive on the highway. We hope the recall will be expanded soon.

I filled this form out previously concerning these tires. The problem is that the tread is seperating from the sidewall on both rear tires. I had all four tires replaced at my own expense for safety reasons. The two rear tires, in addition to the tread seperation problems, have large "blisters" or "bubbles" in the interior of the tire. One measures approximately three inches across, and one-half inch high. The other measures approximately two inches across, and one-half inch high. These 16-inch wilderness at tires are defective, and others, and need to be recalled( dot number: w2cu1px217 tire size: p25570r16 ).

Accidentally hit the curb at 25 mph. The jolt produced a bubble at the side of two tires which had to be replced to avoid tire explosion. Expected a better performance from an "off the road" SUV. ( dot number: w2hl tire size: 235/75r15 ).