Ford Shocks May Have Sliced Tires

CARACAS, Venezuela--Shock absorbers on Ford Explorers may have been slicing into the treads of Bridgestone/Firestone tires in Venezuela, where the country’s consumer protection agency is investigating at least 46 deaths allegedly connected to blow-out linked crashes of Explorer SUVs.

Agency head Samuel Ruh has said investigators found a wrecked Explorer where the shocks had come into contact with the tires. Ruh said it could be an isolated incident, but the case is being turned over to prosecutors.

Ruh told a Congressional hearing that “the tires were making contact with a mechanical part and that mechanical part is (part of) the shock absorbers Ford has been changing.”

In 1999, Ford was charging consumers to change the shocks on the Venezuelan Explorers. Ford said the changes were to give customers a desired rougher ride--while Firestone claims that the adjustments were being made to compensate for engineering flaws in the SUV’s design.

Venezuela reportedly will ask Ford and Firestone to simulate Explorer crashes both with and without the modified suspensions, apparently to determine if the shocks are involved with the problems.

The government consumer protection agency, known as Indecu, may order Ford to reinforce the suspension systems on some 30,000 Explorers in Venezuela.

Ford denies all wrongdoing, maintaining that “tread separation in some Firestone tires was a common factor in the accidents and that many tires didn’t meet strength and speed specifications.”

Firestone’s Venezuelan operation contends that the problems stem from a “mislabeling” glitch in which four-ply tires were substituted for five-ply tires ordered by Ford.

Ruh said his agency will recommend criminal proceedings against Ford and Firestone executives, and they are demanding that the companies’ subsidiaries presidents be prohibited from leaving Venezuela until the investigation is completed.

The U.S. Congress has been asked for its information on SUV crashes in the U.S. Authorities in both countries have accused Firestone and Ford of covering up information about the tire problems for at least two years before issuing recalls.

In the U.S., attorneys general from 39 states and Puerto Rico have joined together to investigate how Firestone and Ford handled the recall of 6.5 million tires linked to more than 100 fatal accidents.

Also, Firestone tires made at the company’s Wilson, N.C. plant were subjected to consumer complaints over tread separations dating back to 1990--and continuing until 1995, the Washington Post has reported, citing company documents.

Firestone has previously blamed the tire problems on only those made at its Decatur, Ill. plant.

The new information about the Firestone tires had been sealed under a court order in a Georgia wrongful-death case, but now it has been made public following a lawsuit by the Washington Post, CBS News and the Chicago Tribune Co.

Safety groups have contended that all Wilderness tires should be recalled, regardless of where they were made. Firestone has said the scope of the recall reflects its analysis of injury and property damage data.

Among tires returned by customers for refunds from 1990 to 1995, tread separation was cited as the cause two-thirds of the time for Firestone ATX tires made at the Wilson, N.C., plant, the Post reported.

Most of the 2,226 consumer complaints amassed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration do not identify the tire by place of manufacture--but of those that do, Wilson-made Wilderness tires show up in 112 reports, compared to Decatur’s 42 for the Wilderness tire.

The Post quoted Firestone spokeswoman Christine Karbowiak saying it would be difficult to read too much into the new data without knowing the root cause of the tire failures.