I had a random synapse fire and that popped into my head. That is all.
I had a random synapse fire and that popped into my head. That is all.
I remember that commercial!
Firestone 721.
I remember the tv commercials. The tire was a disaster, IIRC, proven to have an inherent design flaw that led to tread separation or something.
It was the replacement for the Firestone 500, which was so bad that Firestone lost a class action suit over them. I had a set, but replaced them before I could get in on the settlement.
No big deal, it would have put me on a set of 721s.
The 721 wasn't any better. I had a single 721 that came on a car I bought. It blew out on the highway.
Forty years later, never had another Firestone tire, never will.
Paging J.G.
Also: 721, 722, whatever it takes.
Also, also, I totally forgot that tire ad was part of Heavy Metal.
David S. Wallens said:Paging J.G.
Also: 721, 722, whatever it takes.
Second Mr Mom reference for me today.
Beer?
It's 7 o'clock in the morning!
Scotch?
This thread has all kinds of resonances...
Honestly, I have always wondered how Firestone managed to have the kind of brand identity and lifespan that they have, since in my experience everything about the company is utter crap and has been for decades.
I'm in the middle of reading an essay about trans oceanic submarine cables (Neal Stephenson), and some of the early fiber cables, going from continent to continent, were 2 fiber cables about 1/4" each, wrapped with a lot of other stuff including seven 3/8 Stainless linear and at least 1 stainless coiled, altogether creating a cable of several inches diameter.
So there's that.
I wrote a post for the "Chinese tire names" thread, but it got lost.
Attn: Marketing Dept.
Names that should not be used for tires:
Triangle
Square
Star
Vibe
Isosceles
Brick
Concrete
Rigid
Stone
Fire
500
Four years later and I'm just realizing I think this was the tire that was responsible for so many blow outs in my youth. See my dad has never been one to throw out a half used piece of paper, so when he got the contract to haul the recalled Firestone tires the sizes that were right for our cars just didn't seem to make it to the dump. I remember thinking as a kid that blowouts and flat tires were just what happens when you drive a lot. When I started driving I followed my dads example and kept putting used tires on my cars and kept having flats. Somehow I figured out the whole new tire thing and it's amazing but I haven't had a flat in thirty years.
Thanks Firestone for all the hours spent on the side of the road changing tires. Also thanks dad for teaching me the very definition of "penny wise and pound foolish."
Floating Doc said:It was the replacement for the Firestone 500, which was so bad that Firestone lost a class action suit over them. I had a set, but replaced them before I could get in on the settlement.
No big deal, it would have put me on a set of 721s.
The 721 wasn't any better. I had a single 721 that came on a car I bought. It blew out on the highway.
Forty years later, never had another Firestone tire, never will.
I'll never go to Firestone again cause they decided to screw me over.
Bought all new meats for the Mustang in early '08. There was a quick pause for a recession. By '09 I had a new job that paid much less so as a cost savings measure I parked her and let insurance and registration lapse. ~4 years later I was getting paid more, had done some work to her and was ready to start driving her again. Get a couple things done towards that, a few more rear their head, its another year before I can put a new registration sticker on her and start driving to sort out issues.
The tires that I had put less than 300 miles on had flat spots. Took them to Firestone with my paperwork and full warranty I paid for. GM at the store talks his way into denying any warranty due to age.
Same store I had bought them from, same store I bought the wife's Miata tires from, got the front struts replaced on the Miata there, went there for alignments. He didn't care that there was any history or that the tires were damn near new.
I wanted to burn the place down and dance over his bones.
Never gonna go to another Firestone shop.
I've often said that a single set of tires from Costco will easily pay for your membership for a year. I had gotten away from them for a while and been buying tires from Tire Rack, but recently took advantage of a 150 off a set of 4 Michelin Pilot Sports for the 530i. In addition to the price being excellent (absolutely unbeatable with the 150 off), the service and the care the techs take in torquing lugs to the mfrs specs is noteworthy. Highly recommended.
Firestone and egg-maker Dunlop are two tire brands I'll never buy. Honestly, with the offerings available from Michelin and Continental, why would I go anywhere else? I may be cheap, but I don't do cheap tires. Now good tires at a great price? That I'll do!
A friend in the tire industry once said to just picture all of the engineering that goes into a tire–and then add in the fact that you really can't see any of it, even if you cut the tire in half.
Above all said and known, I have the FIREHAWK INDY 500 tires on the FRS and rather like them for the driving I do.
NOHOME said:Above all said and known, I have the FIREHAWK INDY 500 tires on the FRS and rather like them for the driving I do.
Looking at the date of my first post in this thread, I probably had <50 posts on GRM. Maybe a lot less, this could be one of the first.
Since then I've had two sets of the Indy 500s on the Ralliart wagon. I don't recommend them for an autocross tire, but they get it done, and if it's raining and cold at the event, you're in luck.
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