Two problems related to tire bead have been reported for the 1997 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
An unusual noise was coming from the vehicle. The local Ford dealer stated that all four firestone tires were separating from the rim at the bead!!!! they also stated that I was fortunate to not have had a catistrophic failure at interstate highway speeds on my 360 mile trip back to my home. The Ford dealer also stated that they had not seen this type of failure before. Firestone will also be notified of these failures. ( dot number: vnhlipm276 tire size: 235r15 ).
Our car rolled over after being struck in the right rear , both tires on driver side seperated from rims. This caused the car to roll over. Other 2 tires while having debris in bead areas did not seperate from rim( dot number: unk tire size: p23575r15 ).