Three problems related to tire bead have been reported for the 1998 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
All 4 tires developed cracks in every other cleat where the tread joins the tire casing and along the beads. There was no tread separation but I felt it was imminent. Portsmouth Ford did not want to inspect the tires untill I insisted. They then told me I would have to wait for the next available appointment which was 2 weeks away. I finally called the national Ford customer service number. They would not even talk to me about the defective tires untill I verbally forced a customer service agent to take a formal complaint. The people at the firestone national 800 number would not give me any information about warrrantee replacement. I had to locate a firestone tire service center in manchester, nh. Firestone offered to replace the tires allowing 50% tread wear. The problem is they could not provide replacement tires for 5-6 months. To sum this up, I purchased 4 tires of another brand today. I have the lot number of the defective tires: vncu1tx048 (all 4 the same lot) I took digital pictures of the defects and have my receipts. ( dot number: not known tire size: 255/70r16 ).
Both the Ford dealer and tire dealer indicated that the defect was caused by a road hazzard. However, there was no damage to the rim. The bead or bubble extended from the rim to the tread and was about two inches wide and about 3/4" high. I replaced the tire with the spare and used the defective tire as the spare. During my last servicing, it was noted that the spare was flat. No reason was given by the dealer. This defect has made the tires suspect and made my wife very nervous about driving the vehicle. This size should be included in the recall. ( dot number: tire size: p255/70r16 ).
Tire came off wheel and deflated causing rollover . I think wheel has a design problem causing the bead to seperate from wheel when rounding corners( dot number: tire size: 235-75 ).