Local garages labor to replace recalled Firestone tires
By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer
The Firestone tire recall has translated into "the toughest
week" in the 15-year professional life of Kurt Archibald, the Sawtooth Auto Sales
general manager.
For Jock Brown, manager of the Les Schwab Tire Center in Hailey, the recall
has meant working into the early morning hours filling out claim forms.
Last week, Firestone announced a recall of at least 6.5 million tires due
to tread separation problems.
Hailey-based Sawtooth Auto Sales is a Ford dealership, and Ford put
Firestone tires on many of its vehicles such as the Explorer, the Bronco and the Ranger.
However, Sawtooth Auto is having mostly Explorers in for tire exchanges since there are so
many of them in the Wood River Valley, said Sawtooth’s Archibald.
Ford will replace the suspect tires without cost to the vehicle owner, he
said.
Ford owners are affected if the tire size is P235/75R15 and if ATX or ATX
II appears in big letters on the sidewall of the tire. Archibald said Ford will replace
those tires, "no questions asked."
Other Ford owners may be affected if the tire size is P235/75R15 and
Wilderness AT is printed on the sidewall of the tire.
Sawtooth Auto will check the inboard sidewall for the Department of
Transportation (DOT) code VDHL, which means it was manufactured in Decatur, Ill., where
the Wilderness AT tire facility is located.
According to Archibald, Sawtooth Auto has replaced 15 sets (60 tires) of
tires since the recall.
Brown at Les Schwab has been too busy to count all the replacements his
center has made since he was hit with the rush last Wednesday, he said.
He said he knows he replaced at least 199 tires on Saturday because he was
up until 1 a.m. Sunday filling out the claim forms. He said he had replaced 38 more by 8
a.m. Monday.
"We’re seeing Monteros, S10 Blazers and other vehicles coming in
with these tires," he said, "but, by far, the majority are Explorers."
Pointing west from the corner of his lot on Myrtle and River streets, he
said he had Explorers parked up and down Myrtle last Saturday waiting to have their tires
changed.
Brown said he will replace the ATX, the ATX II, or the
Decatur-manufactured Wilderness AT with any tire customers want. If customers want a
replacement tire worth $74.51 or less, they will pay nothing for the replacement. If
customers want to "step up to a higher grade tire" worth more than $74.51, they
will pay the difference.
Asked what will happen to the "old" tires he has piled up in his
lot and put away in his storeroom, he said, "They’ll shred ‘em."
Brown said he was impressed with Firestone’s recall. "Firestone
is stepping up to the plate on this deal; it’s not like they’re trying to slough
it off."
He also had some good advice for recall participants. "You got to
look at the spare too. Most people are not looking at them, and they need to be replaced
too."
Neither manager sees an end in sight right now for the recall.
"Hypothetically," Archibald said, "someone could come in a
month from now and get a replacement."
On Monday, Brown said the pace of replacement business had not let up
since last Wednesday. "I expect this to continue for some time," he added.
