obligatory autox content - if anyone uses a nagrivator for a tow
vehicle.....
Recall of Continental Tires Expected
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Continental General Tire (news - web sites) will
replace 16-inch tires that were standard equipment on the 1998 and 1999
model year Lincoln Navigator (news - web sites) amid reports some of the
tires lost parts of their tread.
Officials from Continental and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news), which
makes the Navigator, prepared to brief federal authorities on the tire's
warranty and claims data Tuesday. A source with knowledge of the
situation who spoke on condition of anonymity said a recall was expected
to be announced after the meeting. The move would affect about 200,000
tires.
Lincoln spokesman Jim Cain would not discuss the details of the
information that will be shared with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (news - web sites).
Continental officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. NHTSA
spokesman Rae Tyson said he had no information about what would be
discussed.
Ford and Continental said last week they were investigating six reports
from Saudi Arabia of problems involving Continental tires on Lincoln
Navigators. Two of the reports were from this year and four were from
last year.
The companies stressed the warranty and claims data included no reports
of major accidents, fatalities or serious injuries. Cain said there have
been reports of property damage.
Fewer than 40,000 Navigators that were sold with the 16-inch ContiTrac AS
tires as standard equipment, Cain said. He said some 1998 and 1999 models
and all 2000 models of the luxury sport utility vehicle used a 17-inch
version of the tire.
Most of the Navigators were sold in the United States, Cain said,
although some were shipped for sale overseas, including Saudi Arabia and
other Persian Gulf countries.
Cain said the warranty and claims data was analyzed as part of Ford's
investigation into tire failures after the Aug. 9 recall of 6.5 million
Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires. The tires are standard
equipment on the Explorer and some other Ford vehicles.
The recall came after NHTSA opened an investigation into complaints that
the tread would peel off, sometimes while the vehicle was traveling at
highway speeds.
Most of the problems reported on the Continental tires involved only
partial tread separations, the source said.
NHTSA said on Aug. 31 that it had received reports of at least 88 U.S.
deaths and more than 250 injuries involving Firestone tires, with most of
the accidents involving rollovers of the Explorer. The agency planned to
update the numbers Tuesday.
Firestone has acknowledged problems with its tires, but also says the
Explorer's design may have contributed to the accidents. Ford has
insisted it is solely a tire problem.
Meantime, The New York Times reported Tuesday that an analysis of federal
traffic accident data for 1999 showed 52 people died in 40 fatal crashes
of Explorers in which tire problems were listed as a contributing factor.
That was more than twice as many as the previous year.
``The increase simply shows that those Explorers were equipped with bad
tires,'' said Ernie Grushz, Ford's manager of safety data analysis.
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