Car And Driver 1994 Ford Explorer Tire Failure Test
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
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Video from Car And Driver showing what happens when a tire looses air on a 1994 Ford Explorer - Answer is nothing.
Now put it on the front so it makes the steering wheel pull to one side.
yeah on the front doing 70 on a corner!
I agree with you they should try it in front.
Any truck or truck based vehicle requires the driver to be more of a driver in a front tire blow out,but it can be handled,first of all do not stab the brakes it will get out of control fast.
Exactly
Yes.
The test was done specifically on the rear tires because it was rear tire blowouts which were the subject of the infamous lawsuit. I think the main problem was soccer moms overreacting to the sudden noise and change in handling when a tire failed. Ford used this same tire on 4WD Rangers...mechanically identical to the Explorer...and there were nowhere near as many accidents due to tire failure.
The NHTSB found the Explorer to be no more rollover prone than any other vehicle in it's class. However, Ford isn't blameless, as they did tell consumers to under-inflate Firestone tires that were already defective. When these Explorers were new, they came from the factory with 25 psi in the rear tires! A Ranger would have 35 psi.
Really? they redesigned the entire vehicle after this.
@@Mr1dvsbstrd Yes...to make it more "soccer mom-proof".
The shorter wheelbase of the explorer also lends itself to be inherently more unstable just because of the geometry
The explorer had a much higher center of gravity than the ranger
There are some key differences to this and an actual blowout. This tire remains intact but runs empty, when a tire shreds you're running on a rim which I could imagine would perform very differently
It does had it happen in my 94 xlt explorer and its fuckin terrifying but she kept at least three wheels on the ground at all times so it was fine cause the roofs on them are built like tin cans
That's why I don't like Car and Driver, they got so much money helping Ford against Firestone by doing tests that prove just about nothing against their tires. Most of these rollovers with the early gen Explorers were caused due to the short wheelbase of the platform they used.
This must’ve been funded by ford
4 doors and it’s a manual? I want it
probably rolled over two seconds after filming
I've got a '93 like that :) I've always wanted a 2 door version but I love mine
I drive a 94 woth a auto there great trucks and amazing on gas
@@jamesprice2163Mine is a 93 and it gets terrible gas mileage. It runs excellent. I really can't understand why it gets such bad mileage?Gets about 13 city 18 highway. Mine is pretty low geared it's got the 3.73 track-loc rear axle ratio. Cruising at 70mph it's only cranking about 2200rpm. Also it's an automatic. I've been told the 5 speed transmission does get better mpg than the automatic. Maybe that's why? It's my 2nd vehicle but I do use it because it's bad to just let a vehicle sit.
@@Thundarr995 mine is a auto too I'd check tire pressure mine also has premium gas in it so it runs smoother but honestly explorers have never been known to get good gas milage but their bulletproof and can take a beating
I had a 94 Explorer for a few years. I always wonder if I had the recalled tires but I didnt know much about cars at that time and didnt pay attention I was a kid. Never had any trouble with mine it was actually great (had quite a bit of “fun” in the back).
I had one too and am getting another next week and will continue to have one in my garage till the day I die
@@jamesprice2163 just picked up a '94 again myself. 6th first gen Ive owned. Will keep buying them as long as I can.
@@markrussell7977 sadly I wasn't able to pick that one up but I agree their awesome trucks other than the front brakes throwing the pads every two weeks but I genuinely fell in love with mine and cried when we had to scrap it the only other car I've cried over was scrapping my 03 GMC Sonoma which was my first self bought car and the vehicle I learned to drive manual in so it was extremely sentimental to me my explorer was my first ever vehicle that my mom bought me for 400$ so I'd shut the fuck up about getting a car her literal words were "your truck is outside I don't want to hear shit about a car now like it or not it's yours end of story" it took me one look to like it and as soon as I opened the door and sat in it I fell in love with it spent the next weekend flooding the yard washing it which my mom yelled at me for but I didn't give a shit cause my baby was clean and the best looking car we had I was proud as hell to own that truck
@@jamesprice2163 my first '93 Explorer was the first vehicle I ever flat out bought myself. I definitely understand the sentiment. I'm saddened to hear you didn't end up buying the explorer that you had sought. Hopefully another opportunity comes your way soon. I had to fly halfway across the East Coast to grab mine. Would do it again if I found another worthwhile example for sale. Do you mind if I ask which state(if applicable) you reside in?
@@markrussell7977 Ohio lol so all of the ones closest to me are rusted to hell but when the time comes my buddy said he'll sell me his rust free 94 explorer XLT four door factory five speed manual it's even the same green as my old one
Love how almost all of these rollovers could have been prevented if Ford just used a different platform 😶
Or put the correct tire pressure in the tires
Who is here after watching the Up to speed episode from Donut
I linked this video to my new video. I was band from renting car at Budget because they clocked me at 120 mph.
Tread separation, I doubt an experienced race car driver could recover. A rear wheel locks up from the rubber band and you have induced oversteer, fishtailing. Rollover very likely. Tread separation though is very rare today.
The whole problem you outlined here begins with inferior Firestone tires.
@@lawnmowermanlawnmowerman9930 The tread separation happened because Ford spec'ed only 26psi which left zero margin for error on tire pressure. Tires were fine, Ford was the issue.
@@imzjustplayin I go by the tires recommendation on my Explorers and I make sure it is rated for the load if not a little over rated for good measure (tire also lasts longer). I will say this, any tire I run on these trucks, once you get around 30psi and above they start to ride extremely roughly. Like you feel every single bump to the point where it shakes out your fillings. I've tried different shocks, but it only seemed to make this worse. I'm not exactly sure what causes this but I can see why Ford was trying to make it ride better with less tire pressure, people would have test drove them and immediately ran away from the bad ride quality. That being said it was a stupid cop out and they should have ran the correct tire pressure and taken the hit from less potential buyers. Personally the harsh ride from the correct tire pressure does not bother me because my other vehicles are all stiff race cars on coilovers, the Explorer is like a vacation in comparison.
If Firestone was aware of Ford using 26lbs before the lawsuits began it's negligent on their part for not pulling out of the Ford partnership right then and there. If they lived under a rock and never managed to hear about it until the lawsuits began then that is probably a symptom of the stone age before social media when info like that could take a year to get around word of mouth. However, this is the automotive industry we are talking about, I'm pretty sure even back then info traveled fast.
I believe there is only one real solution to this problem, much like Ford Pinto owners install aftermarket racing fuel cells, maybe if people still want to use these now vintage trucks start thinking about installing a roll cage and some harnesses like this one in the video.
btw, tread separation is much different.
Look up "Ford Explorer tire tread separation"...still nothing happens. Conclusion = Poorly maintained vehicle (insofar as suspension components, steering upkeep, etc), completely inept driver, or both.
True. But then again, the fault is with the driver and Ford. 26psi is way too low of a spec, gave no margin of error if the pressure lost a few PSI.
@@aks3691 What evidence do you have the tires were over inflated? Tires typically have max inflation values starting at 35 psi going up to 80 psi for LT tires. I've never had a tire explode due to being overinflated, always underinflated.
@@aks3691 Go find it. You'll see that it loses control on the underinflated tire. The reason why is because the u-bolts tear the sidewall which deflects more when deflated. Also with a spec of only 26 psi, losing a few psi of pressure leaves no margin for error due to overloading. They specced lower pressure to improve ride quality of what is basically a ford ranger.
And if it happened in a turn?
had one, was an awsome truck, would turn on a dime, put coil over shocks in the rear very stable. ended up hitting a kia sephia head on at 40 drove it home. they cut the girl who ran in to me out of her car with the jaws of life.
I have one now and have to agree but my brake line blew off and it slammed into a tree at about 25-30mph to my suprise it drove home and four months later still starts when you crank the key
Update still have it and still daily the damned thing still haven't fixed it and am buying another one next week the first gen explorer is truly the truck behind the phrase "built ford tough"
It baffles me that they didn’t consider testing in… you know… A CORNER?? This may come as a surprise, but roads have turns 😱
I own a 1993 Explorer 4dr 4wd, I've had 3 flat tires, twice in the back, once in the front, speed varied from 80-120 km/h no loss of control any of the times
put it on the front and lets see how it turns out
2Legit2Quit if the front tire were to blow it would actually be even more stable than if the rear was to. You can control what the front tires will do by steering but not the rear tires. If the rear tire were to blow (explode not just deflate) the vehicle would be fishtail, but if the front tire were to explode, it would just pull to one side in a non-violent manner.
Had it happen she pulls but it's controllable
I daily one of these and love everything about it its fun to drive pretty powerful (at 160hp) good storage, brakes kinda suck due to the slider pins continuously falling out but im swapping them out for second gen disc brakes so it'll fix that the only issues i have with it is the brake problem and the mirrors are too small for a suv other than that i love my explorer
The original ones, were they drum breaks?
@@42luke93 in the rear yes but the fronts were what was throwing pads every two weeks sadly not long after posting the original comment the transmission gave up the ghost and we had to scrap my beloved explorer which lucky was used to piece together another one so it's heart is still out there somewhere hauling people around like it did for me (legit I fuckin loved that truck lol)
Was your explorer manual or automatic or manual?
My dad says that his is pretty dang weak (automatic explorer)
@@DGP873 she was a automatic and yeah they were the weakest transmission of them all but it still held up for over a quarter million miles
My mom had its more premium cousin a 1998 mountaineer with a 5.0 pushrod V8 and automatic climate control. You can feel the torque on the gas pedal and it’s a nice sounding engine.
That's not a simulation of a blowlout. An actual blowout would be much more likely to cause separation. Moreover, this test didn't even occur with the Firestone Wilderness tire that these trucks came with.
In reality a lot of the non tire failure related fatal accidents involving the early generation explorers came down to one factor:
Stupid people with no previous driving a truck based vehicle thinking that you could just throw a 4600 pound truck around the same way you can a 2800 pound Honda Civic without any risk and not bothering to learn how to safely execute emergency maneuvers in a large top heavy vehicle like an explorer.
Engineering wise it was a perfectly safe sound and stable suspension design than had been used for years in the Ranger and F-Series with no issues to speak of.
Rapid air loss and a blowout are 2 different things. A blowout is when a tire explodes into pieces losing it's tread. Sudden air loss is when all the air is lost but the tire remains intact such as running over a large piece of sharp metal puncturing the tire. You demonstrated simple sudden air loss- not a blowout.
This is a bad test, this isn’t simulating a tire BLOWING OUT. The shock of a blow out is more violent and sudden than simply releasing all the air out at a relatively slow discharge. Also, a tire blow out on the front WILL be harder to control
Its the car design
There was never anything wrong with the Explorer,it was the inferior Firestone tires and inexperienced/panicking drivers who were the problem.
After driving an explorer for years, I want to agree. However, there is evidence from an explorer designer that the car was 2 inches too narrow to be safe and rollovers were a very real threat. The rumor is that ford decided to blame the tires instead of fixing the problem. However, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt, as the ford designer mentioned does have some bias and could easily be lying
@@shauncole4392 I had family and friends who worked at the Memphis Firestone Plant and they have all told me that they were ordered to put already rusting steel belt material in those tires during production, I know tires and Know very well what the results of such a practice would cause.
Rear blow outs don't affect steering.
Why I felt this Video recorded on 1985 ?
Put that stuff on the front tire and try that test again
Not sure I heard a lot of tire pressure was super low after drive forever with low tire pressure it would separate and cause rollover also tire pressure in door but ford was recommended lower tire pressure
What selling your soul looks like.
At 137,000 miles most cars built in the 90s were wore out.
That makes zero sense
Do a real tread seperation on the front I've owned 11 of these rigs 91-94 you gotta know how to handle them
R.I.P Firestone Wilderness
There was a monster truck called that too...
Statistically 94 Explorers with 2WD rather than 4WD had far more rollover crash deaths. Per IHS.
What about a blow out on one of the front tires?
Depending the speed and how much driving experience you've, I'm my 30 plus years of experience as a technician I tell people to never try to save money when it comes the time to buy tires, i ask them, how much you figure your life is worth? If is a truck get truck tires, those are crappy tires that wouldn't sustain the weight of the that SUV in hard driving conditions, like when there's an accident and the cops re direct the traffic through an old abandoned road and there's all kinds of debris on it.
@@josmarz3841 wouldn't sustain the weight in hard driving conditions? what the hell are you babbling about. Vast majority of blowouts are caused by insufficient tire pressure. Most drivers don't check their tire pressure and even fewer add additional pressure when going on a road trip, loading down the vehicle yet not adjusting the tire pressure to compensate for the additional load.
This message brought to you by Ford!
Just kidding. I think the "instability" issue with these vehicles was overblown.
A front tire blowout would have been more exciting, but I have very little doubt it would not lose control if the driver knew what to do. Speaking of which, I probably should get new tires on my Explorer.
None done on front or cornering test
It was FIRESTONE tires, and they blew out at speeds over 70mph.
See here: czcams.com/video/wjmItZQzNW8/video.html
I’ve got a 98 explorer w the 5.0 v8… wanting to keep it alive… but might be dealing w some overheating issues
Tread separation have no traction fam. Those are some good tires with no sidewall damage after those high speed tests.
Who's watching after buying a 1994 explorer I'm scared to drive it the steering is very loose at 227000 miles
WHERE'S FRONT TIRE FOOTAGE???
Overload it with passengers and cargo including roof carrier.
Brilliant test probly sanctioned by the Ford motor company because in the statistics of the explorers involved fatalities that actually had roll overs, BOTH were rear tires failed simultaneously or one shortly after the other causing severe oversteer that even a highly experienced driver would find very difficult to control without prior warning at highway speeds....... This was a very silly demonstration........
change your cheap tires
"As long as you don't do anything to upset the car..."
Like steer to get off to the side of the road? If this wasn't biased, I don't know what is.
Front tire blowout test plz...
I wanted one so bad when buying my first cat back in 93. My dad said the bronco would be a better choice and it was.
The curve is what will get you not a straight line
It's the front tire blow out that flips them. All of them have been front blow outs.
Sponsored by Ford Motor Company.
It was the Firestone tires that was the issue
It was due to ford putting to low of tire pressure in the Firestone tires
This test was totally pointless. Thats not a blowout and you arent always driving perfectly straight on a race track
Difference between a "Blowout" and deflation, a blowout is a type of explosion where the energy reverberates through the suspension, upsetting it and causing instability, in turn causing a crash
do it on the front tire
This has to be the most lousy test I've ever seen
I'll never use those shit tires , I use real truck tires.
Does Ford Pinto rings any bells? 😂
Yeah,it was a way better car than a Chevy Vega
ok,im not even looking at the tires.Im curious as to what happened to the bumper,mine has the same thing in the middle.Bought it that way.Tow hook or something,driving me crazy.
I was thinking the same thing about the bumper! I just bought a 1994 with the same lifted part of the front bumper. Two other Explorers that I looked at also had it
I've seen it on all 1st Generation Ford Explorer models I had it on a 1993 and a local 1994 model for sale has it as well.
If I remember correctly on the one I had there was something mounted below that ridge of the bumper and instead of just simply relocating the component just had a crease put in that position of the front bumper.
Ford's Engineering Super Genius must have been Wile E. Coyote.
Going back and looking at the video again the ridge in the front bumper is above the ventilation port closest to the passenger side of the vehicle and if I remember correctly that is where my transmission cooler was located behind that opening and between the transmission cooler and the ridge was the lines that ran from the transmission to the cooler and back to the transmission again.
Front tire
00:57 - No way thats a real name....or person for that matter
Um, no. The problem wasn't blowouts, it was that the tread would separate from the tire, much worse. We had a partial tread separation in my grandpa's RV a few years back, it had duel rear wheels and still shook like crazy. On a much lighter vehicle with single rear wheels I can see it bouncing the rear end like crazy.
But ignoring the rollover risk of SUVs (not just Ford, most brands), lets talk about how terrible the roofs were. The roof on many 90's and early 00's SUVS weren't even strong enough to support their own weight!
Stop hating this was the first gen Explorer people did not know what to expect so they can improve
Now try both fronts
Not the truck or the tires fault. Total driver error. I own one of these and I'm familiar with it's handling characteristics.
First off, he's going too fast, jerks the wheel hard left, then hard right - that will destabilize pretty much anything with a high center of gravity - Explorers, Blazers, Broncos, a Garbage trucks.
The next mistake happens twice - or same 2 mistakes. First off, the driver turns AWAY from the lean. The whole idea is to turn INTO the lean so that the front tire on the leaning side pushes the vehicle back up before it goes to a point of no return (during which you want to return the wheel to straight - and do it GENTLY/SLOWLY) - which brings me to the second mistake, the driver jerks the wheel to overcorrect on top of it, causing an ABRUPT situation that will shift the problem to the other side.
What the driver should have done in the first place is not jerked the wheel. And after that first mistake, turned into the lean carefully and ever-so slightly to push the truck back up, returning to straight as the truck gets back on all 4's - which would take off some of the momentum and discourage it from leaning the other way.
Also, if you look around 0:16ish - the driver should have held STRAIGHT there until it stabilized and then corrected into the lane. The Explorer would have stayed on all 4s and all would have been fine - my guess is they were simulating the panic of a driver unfamiliar with the vehicle - which again is driver error, not vehicle issue.
My friend 99% of drivers these days aren't true drivers at all,just passengers who happen to be holding a steering wheel as they go down the road. Most have never handled a truck style vehicle until they buy an suv,then they expect it to handle just like the sedan they're used to driving. Two totally different handling vehicles.
I’ve almost flipped my 94 explorer so many times😂
The also did not take in account of the tire separating sending pieces of rubber between the contact point of the rim and road surface. This situation really changes the handling of the vehicle especially a Ford Explorer. They are very unstable. In face in the late 90's U-Haul would not rent a trailer to you if you were using an Explorer. This test in no way simulates the actual conditions of a real blow out. This is a slap in the face to the people that were injured and the families of the people lost during this debacle.
Yeah,U-Haul were some dipshits for sure,but I've owned several Explorers and am about to aquire another one hopefully. It is a way better vehicle than anything GM has to offer.
This is a propaganda video...
This is proved to be a propaganda scam video.
Firestones
pack some dynamite in that tire, detonate at 60mph, let the cameras do the work.
Made FORD rolo nigga
-big tymers
no hands thats Tesla invention but Tesla didn't existed in 1994... Only Tulsa Ok..lol🤣
Obvious propaganda where is the front wheel blow out test
This is not accurate at all no tread separation and a pro driver lol come on!!!
Dumb driver...Overreacting to the situation presented at the time it happens. One good came from this...Tire manufacturers have over built tires to be much safer now...
Ford must have paid for this. The issue was rear tire blow outs caused by tread separation, not a flat. The actual tests proved that this issue was unrecoverable from and deadly. What do you really expect from car and driver, they get paid to sell cars.
Your statement is untrue my friend,I've blown rear tires on a half ton pickup hauling more than 7000 pounds in the bed traveling at 70 mph and I didn't turn the truck over or lose any of my load of produce. I may be different than most I admit since I grew up driving loaded trucks on a daily basis. But the point is,a blowout can be handled even though it is difficult it can be done.
I love these testers .next week they probably were testing cigarettes and asking big questions like are they really dangerous? ..conclusion ....NO..funded by Marlboro & ford test department .
weird when ford tested this it looked like this: czcams.com/video/j2ItrwJ1zuc/video.html
Junk tires, junk suspension, junk company.
I suppose you like general motors the ones who took your tax bailout money then still went bankrupt and just recently got a huge tax break from trump to stay alive and now are ckiding down its us plants and running to Mexico to give them jobs
I'm a retired ASE Certified chassis and alignment specialist and I've owned a number of Explorers. But I will not own or drive ANY of GM's garbage vehicles. And I'm GM certified also and have repaired more than 2000 of their vehicles over a 30 year period,but I will not drive them,I only drive Ford(1st choice) or Chrysler(2nd choice).
@@lawnmowermanlawnmowerman9930 I'm right there with ya brother. I'm not ASE certified yet though.
Try the front tire jerks!
Wow, rude
chumps
Somebody got some kick backs from fomoco lol deathtrap suvs
Do it on the front tire