squealin rubber

[toplad]

Hi all. My surf is sittin on Firestone Wilderness AT tyres and im not sure they're the right choice for road use? Whenever i take a roundabout or a sharpish bend, even at very low speed, they s-c-r-e-e-c-h. Everyone stares at me with disgust! It is in two wheel drive and the diff isnt locked. Any ideas anyone???

[Delboy]

What pressure do you have in them? Might be too high!

[toplad]

good question, betta check it out. Overlookin the obvious maybe? Ta Delboy.

[marky]

does it say studless on the sidewall as they maybe winter tyres I/T they are pants on our roads they get all hot & jelly like then squeel

[Gamedawn]

If these are the original Japanese tyres then as Marky says it may just be this set of tyres. My truck came with M&S ice tyres and although the tread depth was fine they were veeerrry interesting on damp roundabouts - spent more time looking out of the side windows than enough!

[marky]

here they are

[bundubasher]

I heard that these tyres are inherently flawed and were the main cause of many of the Ford Explorers' rollovers.

"As a Ford certified technician and a Ex-Firestone employee, i can safely tell you that it is the Firestone Wilderness and ATX tire's fault. They have a very weak sidewall."

Check:

http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.p...one+wilderness

Also:

"A MESSAGE TO DEALERS REGARDING THE FORD RECALL OF FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES AND GENERAL MOTORS CONTINUED USE OF FIRESTONE TIRES ON ITS VEHICLES"

http://www.gmfleet.com/us/about/news...es/052501.html

[Gamedawn]

It was absolutely nothing to do with the Explorers flawed suspension and Ford over inflating the tyres to compensate then? There are two sides to every story!

[Koi]

My BFG AT's squealed on anything under 30psi, run them at 33 psi no squealing unless I really pushed it on r/abouts etc.

[bundubasher]

[QUOTE=Gamedawn]Explorers flawed suspension and Ford over inflating the tyres to compensate.QUOTE]

First time I've heard the "overinflation" excuse used for a product recall:

"A recall of Firestone Wilderness AT tires that was announced by the Ford Motor Company on May 22, 2001."

[Bryan]

Mine still has the original Bridgestone Dueller H/T's that were supplied when I bought it new (only 23000 on the clock). They squeal quite often when turning corners, but they don't squeal nearly as much as they did when driving around Tokyo, but then every car squeals when driving around Tokyo !

The pressure in mine is the level recommended on the tab inside the door, are you saying that if I put more in it will reduce the squealing? If I over inflate, what other effects will it have on the tyres (quicker wear, less grip)?

thanks

Bryan

[rob88]

When I got mine it used to go sideways on roundabouts quite often

Then the tyre exploded doing a load of damage to the back end of the surf.

Apparently, older tyres can harden. This is common in imports as they are often left standing for ages in carparks and on boats.
Tyres are self lubricating, so teh rubber does not harden but only if they are used.
The unprotected spare type on the back of the surf may have been there from new, 10 years unprotected.
And, the improrted may have swaped a few tyres around, so your nice set of new tyres may all be 10 year old spares off the back of some other surfs.

So, the tyre will not stick very well and they slide sideways.

Now, this may be total garbage, but I've changed all my tyres as I've already got £500 worth of damage from an exploding tyre, and next time it could be worse.

[Koi]

With 33 psi tyre wear is even, I would suggest if they are the tyres it came over with dump them and buy some new ones.
If I recall there have been several cases where the original tyres have exploded/perished on people whilst driving them. As said they may have been sat at the docks for months waitng to be shipped over.
Tyres are your life line when it comes to motoring, these fail and you pay big time for it.

[toplad]

WOW, thanks to everyone for your advice on the tyre situation. Dont fancy a blow out anytime soon so im gonna be changing them at the earliest opportunity!