Does anyone like Firestone?

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In my family, my Dad had a vendetta against them due to some '75 cars that shipped with them. Hydroplaning, lots of fails. He swore by Michelin, I never bought into his style 100%. My one car came with FS from the factory, and I had a sidewall bubble in minimal time. Switched to Goodrich.. those sucked too. Hercules have been the best on that car..

Back to subject... I've seen on several cars what I would consider premature failure or poor treadwear on FS.. and this isn't considering the Ford Explorer fiasco of the 2000's.

Is FS actually making a decent tire? or is it a miracle anything still bears that name? Being an Ohio native, I like to support the natives... Fortunatly Good Year and Cooper are also native to the region.
 
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Sounds like he had a set of their dreadful original radials, that were made on adopted/recycled bias ply equipment. FR380 IIRC?

If it makes him feel better, the Japanese (Bridgestone) has owned them for ~20 years now.
 
Why not support Goodyear or Cooper?

Both companies make good tires.I have Goodyears on the truck now and so far,they have been very good.They did extremely well during the snow we had this past winter.

I have also used Cooper,they were good tires too.
 
Who cares if it's Firestone, Goodyear, Michelin, Kumho, etc. Brand loyalty is foolish. You think Michelin has never turned out a lousy product?
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
FR380 IIRC?


No, FR380 is a current yet still dreadful tire model. I think the original ones were something like Radial 500 or some such.
 
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sounds like he had a set of their dreadful original radials, that were made on adopted/recycled bias ply equipment. FR380 IIRC?

If it makes him feel better, the Japanese (Bridgestone) has owned them for ~20 years now.


The original Firestone radials that almost did them in was the 721.
 
I really liked the Firestone Wilderness tires that came stock on my 2001 GMC. For a cheapo tire, they worked very good in mud and snow, and lasted a long time. I never had good luck with either Michelin or Perelli tires.

I like Uniroyal, but I can't find them here at a decent price. Goodyear has always been over price; their value is inflated like their Blimp.
 
Recently I've been supporting Cooper through their "Hercules" brand. They've been a good value, and no fails.

Michelin wasn't super awesome for me... the price was high.. treadwear was very good (80K mile rated) but the sun dried out the sidewalls before the tire was worn out. I'm planning on going back to Hercs on the next tire changes.. 2 cars.. the first that wore a set of Hercs out.. and another coming off the Stock Pirellis... 50K miles from a stock tire isn't bad at all.
 
I share your dad's opinion on Firestone products. I bought a brand new Ford Ranger in 1989 with Firestone FR480's and the first time I hit 55 MPH one of the tires disintegrated. Only a couple of hundred miles and Firestone wouldn't honor a replacement. I also am not a Goodyear fan either. I currently own Cooper, Kumho, & Yokahama's. Buy whatever you like but I have seen more bad Firestones (721, FR480, Wilderness AT, ATX, and ATX II) than any other brand of tire.
 
I have Transforce HT on my F250, and like them. Firestones are on my company ride too. Now with over 60k on them, they are wearing well, and still have good tread left. I did put Hercules on the travel trailer, but IMO, there aren't any good trailer tires out there, and these probably aren't any better or worse than any other. Michelins are on the Equinox from the factory.. 26k, rotated every 6k, they are trending toward replacement at 50k most likely.
 
I absolutely loved the SZ50 EP (not the run flats) I had on my '98 Contour SVT.

I bought a set of 17" on O.Z. Racing Superleggra wheels and they were the bomb. Some of the best summer tires I've ever owned.
 
My 1999 Malibu came with Firestones from the factory (Affinity, I think), and I got the advertised 50K out of them. No real complaints other than some traction problems in the snow towards the end, and, well, they were almost worn out.
 
IMO if you buy the lowest tier tire of any tire brand you are asking for trouble. Firestone-Bridgestone-Fuzion are all good.

Every time I look at a Goodyear it's priced too high in comparison.
 
I haven't had any issues on Firestone tires. Of course you usually get what you pay for no matter the brand.
 
I have Firestone FR 710s on my Nissan and my GF's Beetle. They've performed well for us and were pretty low-priced. I paid about $400 for all 4 after installation, tax and everything.

I have 2 made in the USA 710s and 2 made in Malaysia 710's on my Nissan (I can't see any difference between them). The 4 on the VW are all USA made.

The only downside so far has been horrible snow traction in my truck. But, it's 2WD with an open diff, so snow traction has always been awful in it.
 
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I truly wonder if Firestone is doing permanent damage to their brand by signing large OEM contracts and putting dreadful tires on so many new cars. Then again, I feel like Goodyear is doing the exact same thing.
 
I'm happy with the Firestone Destination A/Ts currently on my Jeep. They've got about 11k miles on them, and are wearing reasonably well. I'll probably get 30 - 35k out of them. Then again, that's mostly due to my driving, etc being hard on tires. I loved the Destination LEs it had on the back when I bought the Jeep too.
 
I had a set of Firestone Indy 500s on my Dodge Dakota. P255/70R15. I really liked those tires. They were quiet and comfortable, but still grippy enough for the handling on that truck. I'm not into their passenger car tires much, but those Indy 500s worked nice on that truck.
 
I don't think you should judge a brand based on the tires that come on most stock vehicles.

The Goodyear Wrangler Tires that came on my 2005 Jeep KJ were garbage. However, Goodyear makes some great tires, even in the Wrangler line.

The Firestone Destination tires I currently run have been awesome. Low noise, great ride, and they are wearing very well.

You also shouldn't judge the company based on one bad tire you happen to get.
 
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