Tire Pressure Could Have Led to Problems

Aug. 20 -- Ford Motor Co. is coming under fire for telling its customers to deflate their 15-inch Firestone tires to levels that could have caused them to overheat and fail, in order to prevent rollovers.

An internal document obtained by ABCNEWS last week, showed that Ford considered recommending a higher tire pressure but decided against it after computer simulations showed the tires with higher pressure increased the risk the Explorer would roll over.

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. recalled 6.5 million tires earlier this month, used mainly on sports utility vehicles because they are prone to losing their treads at high speeds. Federal investigators are looking into whether 62 deaths and 100 injuries are linked to tire failure.

Tab Turner, an attorney who supplied the Ford document to ABCNEWS, said Ford is partly to blame for the tires’ failure.

“This is a combination of a tire and a vehicle problem,” Turner said today. “This is not just unique to Firestone. Ford is up to its chin in this problem.”

Ford insists the lower tire pressure is not dangerous and that the documents have been taken out of context.

Ford: Not in Danger Zone

The Explorer tires are designed to be inflated to 35 PSI. But because of the computer tests which found the risk of roll-over higher at 35 PSI, a notice to Ford Explorer drivers telling them to inflate the tires to only 26 lbs per square inch (PSI) has been included inside every automobile sold since 1990, when the Explorer hit the market.

“The Ford Explorer has an exceptionally safe record over 10 years and is exceptionally safe at all of the tire inflation pressures we recommend,” said Tom Baughman of the Ford Motor Company. “The 26 PSI level recommended by Ford has absolutely nothing to do with the Firestone tread separation issue.The danger zone is well below 20 PSI.”

Ford said the documents released this week were a work in progress. They pointed out that subsequent tests in December 1989 showed that the Explorer did not experience those kinds of stability problems when the tires were inflated to 26 pounds per square inch.