Lawmaker questions Ford over replacement tires

By Patty Davis CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Ford Motor Co. Wednesday to immediately begin testing the tires it recommends as replacements for recalled Firestone tires on Ford Explorers and other models.

Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana, said the nation's second-largest automaker must test the tires under the same protocol Ford used to evaluate the Firestone Wilderness AT tires that Ford deemed unsafe.

"Customer safety demands nothing less," Tauzin said.

Tauzin criticized Ford for not having tested the tires it recommends to its customers affected by the recall of 13 million Firestone tires. According to Firestone, its tires are safe and the problem arises from a design defect with the Ford Explorer.

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Ford said it relied on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine the safety of the replacement tires.

Ford spokesman Ken Vino said the automaker has not seen the data compiled by congressional investigators, but "when we get it, we'll work very closely with NHTSA."

"No one's more intent on ensuring the safety of our customers," Vino said. "We have very high confidence in the suppliers of tires in our replacement program and we're proceeding on that basis."

Tauzin's office issued a statement Wednesday saying he will give Ford tread separation data on other, non-replacement tires used on other Ford vehicles.

According to Tauzin, congressional investigators have preliminary evidence that seven replacement tires, including the Goodyear Wrangler HT and Continental-General Tire Grabber, have worse claims' histories than the Firestones being replaced.

Tauzin asked the NHTSA to evaluate the committee's data and the government's safety data and report back to Congress in 30 days on whether there are any public safety concerns.

Committee staffers met with NHTSA officials Wednesday and said that after the officials took a preliminary look at the committe's findings, they requested time to fully evaluate the safety of the tires.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, said the fact NHTSA needs more time substantiates his concern "that the majority staff analysis was released prematurely and with minimal regard for the very real fears of consumers."

Dingell was sharply critical of Tauzin at Tuesday's hearing for not releasing the names of all the suspect tires. Democratic staffers questioned the validity of Tauzin's analysis.

Ford announced last month it would replace up to 13 million Firestone tires on its vehicles, citing failure rates that exceed models from competitors. The announcement came one day after Bridgestone/Firestone severed its nearly century-old business relationship with the nation's second-largest automaker.

Ford recommended tires made by Goodyear, Michelin, BFGoodrich, Continental-General Tire and Uniroyal.

Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone have blamed each other for accidents involving rollovers and tread separations.

NHTSA is investigating 203 deaths in connection with such accidents. Its probe began more than a year ago but the agency has yet to draw any conclusions.

The recall applies to all 15-inch, 16-inch and 17-inch Firestone Wilderness tires on Ford Explorers, Expeditions, Rangers, Broncos and F-Series pickup trucks and on the Mercury Mountaineer.