NHTSA requests Ford OE information from Goodyear

WASHINGTON (Aug. 29)—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants information from Goodyear on the tires it provided as original equipment to Ford SUVs and light trucks as part of a "peer analysis" NHTSA is conducting to compare other tire makers´ failure rates to those of the Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires. The agency particularly wants information on consumer complaints and adjustments on tires that were OE on the Ford Explorer, Expedition, Ranger and F-150 and the Mercury Mountaineer. Goodyear itself is not under investigation, NHTSA told the tire maker in its Aug. 22 letter. The agency began its inquiry into the Firestone tires May 2, three months before Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced the recall of 6.5 million tires.