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New Firestone tire probe
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September 29, 2000: 7:35 p.m. ET
U.S. highway agency to review consumer complaints related to Steeltex radials
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. highway safety investigators said Friday they have embarked on a new investigation into tires made by Firestone, in response to 169 consumer complaints about its Steeltex radials that included two deaths and 12 injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in stating that it would open a Preliminary Evaluation (PE), noted that 167 of the 169 complaints were received in August and September of this year.
 According to a summary from the agency's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) the majority of the complaints occurred at highway speed and allege "a blowout, tread separation, or other major failure."
Firestone, owned by Japan's Bridgestone Corp., began recalling 6.5 million ATX, ATX II and some Wilderness tires in August, in response to rising complaints of tread separations and blowouts now blamed for more than 100 U.S. highway deaths. Most of the recalled tires were fitted as standard equipment on Ford Motor Co. Explorer sport utility vehicle.
In a statement, Firestone said it was aware of the probe, and said it would comply with investigators.
"A NHTSA PE is not a finding of a defect but rather is a process to determine the facts surrounding complaints that have been filed with NHTSA," the company said. "(The company) has, and will continue to have, a policy of being open and responsive to NHTSA as well as other government representatives and agencies. We have been and will continue to work diligently to fulfill these inquiries in a timely and responsive manner with limited staff and limited resources."
In Nashville, Tenn., Firestone spokeswoman Anne Conrad said company officials "are currently looking into how many tires are out there and where they were made." She would not comment when asked if the company had received any complaints about the tire.
Complaints relate to tires on Ford, GM trucks and vans
NHTSA said it was aware of Steeltex tire failure complaints on Ford F250 and F350 pickup trucks, Ford (F: Research, Estimates) Excursions and General Motors Corp. (GM: Research, Estimates) Suburbans and G-vans.
Investigators said they were aware of two Steeltex models with potential problems: the R4S mud and snow tire and the A/T all-terrain tire. Both types of Steeltex come in 15-, 16- and 16.5-inch sizes.
A General Motors spokesman said the "company plans to cooperate fully" with the investigation.
A Ford Motor Co. spokesman said the company will cooperate fully with the investigation, but said it was too early to speculate on the outcome of the inquiry.
Spokesman Michael Vaughn said the investigation involves tires installed on all 75,760 Ford Excursions produced in the 2000-2001 model year, at least 40 percent of the Superduty F-Series pickup trucks in the 1999-2000 model year, and 40 percent of the 1999-2000 Econoline Vans.
A NHTSA spokesman told CNNfn.com that the agency would now confer with Firestone, GM, and Ford, and ask for detailed info about the tires, inquiring about when and how many were made, and upon what vehicles they were installed. 
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