Thanks alot Bridgestone Firestone the Strand Auckland

[Fourbyfour]

Thanks for doing my wheelnuts up so bloody tight I had to use a one metre long length of two inch tube on the handle of the wheel brace two get the nuts to move. The first wheel brace was a sidchrome so of reasonable quality and that got the first wheel off before I managed to twist the head off it.
The second wheel brace lasted the distance but was badly distorted by the time I had finished The nuts had all been greased by me on the rotation of the last set of tyres so once I got the first half a turn I could do the rest with my fingers. Obviously the rattle gun at B/F must have been doing a truck before the Surf. Some of the other tyre places will use a rattle gun to initially tighten the nuts but finish by hand, makes more sense.

[Crash bandicoot]

So it's not only there tires huh...

[Mehrts]

Did you make it aware to them that they cranked the nuts up way too much?

That's not acceptable for a tyre mob to be doing that. I know for a fact that the Palmerston North Beaurepaires will wind the nuts on with the rattle gun, but then torque them up by hand with a torque wrench. That's good trade practice right there.

Even though it takes a couple of minutes longer and a bit more effort, it is alot easier on gear and studs (as you found out).

I'd be inclined to take your broken bar back to them and show them what has happened and why. What if your wheel studs snapped off while driving down the road? Who would be at fault and have to deal with repairs?

[klompy]

Still may have your studs break as they have been stretched.

[Fourbyfour]

Yep, I phoned them up but the response I got was the usual indifference that I have come to expect from them, no apologies but just excuses.
These tyres are on their last rotation so will need replacing in the next 6 months. Guess where I won't be going for new tyres.
My opinion of the B/S D/D 694 hasn't changed, mileage was down on what I normally get by 30,000km. Grip in the wet and dry on seal as well as gravel was less than the half worn yoko's I had on before, ride was harder and noise was more. Won't be touching another B/F product or dealing with their service centres again. Going for the Yoko GO12 next time around.

[Fourbyfour]

Crash , have you had problems with their tyres too?

[Crash bandicoot]

Crash , have you had problems with their tyres too?

yeah I have a rant about them here before.

RMT's, 370 dollars each and didn't include fitting and balancing....two months down the road I totalled a 1975 italian moto guzzi.. the wheels broke traction under braking, slowing from 50 for a turn right,(1985 hilux) slid accross the centre line into the path of the motorbike.

I copped a dangerous driving charge causing injury. and the police officer's exact words were "get rid of those thing's" . he had clearly seen many an accident involving the tires.

they are too harder compound for road use, too hard for farm work unless the ground is really soft as the wet grass is like driving on ice. The treads don't clear like other brands when driving on tracks so you end up skating into the ditch's and wrecking gaurds/ indicators mirrors.

Dad had two on the rear of his 2wd ford courier. one blew within 4 months of being fitted. We went to change it on the side of the road and three of the six studs came off with the wheel nut.

Needless to say i now run Kumho's on my 4wd and dad has a cooper's on his.

My first VY holden used to sledge like a bitch with 17 inch Bridgestone potenzas on it, I put some cheap arsed federal's on it and wow what a different car, you could actually use the power.

My wife's commodore came(brought sight unseen from a dealer) with 17 inch firestone's on we told the dealer to take them off and put khumo's on it before it would be driven off the lot

put it this way...firestone with all the financial clout it has world wide, combined with the cost of its tires you'd think would spend mega bucks on R&D but even now they are plagued by poor wall construction leading to blow outs , delamination of the tread. poorly trained tire technicians snapping studs/ over tightening. etc. Even ford dis associated it self with firestone when there ford explorers started mysteriously flipping over on there roofs...and yet any that were fitted with Dunlop grand trek AT3's were fine.... it's bullshit and they need taking to the wall.

[Heath]

Had rmt's on my sj413 zook. Scariest tyres I have ever had. As soon as any moisture was about they were lethal - no braking and not much directional control - swapped for hankooks and it was like night and day. I'll never use them or a derivative again.

[Suza]

Walked away from the 694 years ago due stones and rocks going straight through the tread blocks from new, ever trip up the hill which then was 2-3times a week we had punctures and all they would say is bring them in and we will repair for free, the bitch was its 200km round trip. Had a real good strong face to face talk with them and they would not do anything.
After 6months I walked away and went to the Savero AT Plus tread pattern is very similar and they were magic

[Fourbyfour]

I dread to think what would have happened if I had to change to the spare on the roadside, you can bet there wouldn't have been a convenient sized metal tube handy.

[Weemsy]

I had them RMTs on a pajeros I had a few years back

I think Reece (deranged) was with me heading down the expressway near Napier. It had been raining and as we headed round the (slight) bend between the river bridges, I touched the centre line. The rear tyre lost traction and we started to head sideways at 100k's. I think more luck than skill kept us upright as the paj sledged around like a greasy pig on a skateboard.

When we got home Reece took one look at the tyres and told me to 'throw them fu@@ing things away'. They are the worst tyres I have ever driven on I think. Would never have any on a vehicle I owned. My ring still has burn marks from the seat.......

[Fourbyfour]

Well in light of all these anti B/F posts here, I definitely won't be going that way again. My feeling is that I would sacrifice both road noise and mileage for better grip on seal and gravel. When you sacrifice both and are stuck with a product that still doesn't grip as well as the tyres you had just replaced, something is wrong.
My initial concerns over the 694 were raised with B/F customer service.
Their standard answer was, we have no control over the way they were set up on the vehicle. My reply was so you have no control over the way they were set up when one of your own approved B/F franchises sets them up.
They immediately tried to side step that one.

[hunter1084]

The loudest tyres i've ever owned were bridgestone potenzas on my old rx8 (alot louder then the maxxis trepadors im running at the moment), and also the fact that they were 1200 for 4 which I reckon is ridiculous fr a car tyre, is also keeping me well away from B/F

[eins]

I am running Dueler 697 AT on my ute, mostly road going and have done 30 k, happy so far

[firestonecruiser]

in my 14 yrs with bridgestone i have not had a customer complain about the rmt. in fact i have just removed a set of a clients navara which had done 70 thou k on them. i guess its each to there own. as for crashs statement bridgestone spend millions of dollars on r&d a year. the majority of there performance tyres like the s001 where developed during their time with f1. and yes there was a recall donkey years ago regarding the explorer and it was the wilderness atx which was never releaseed in our country. and the fords did roll with the dunlops on. but hey everyone is a tyre expert so guess with all ya industry expertise and knowledge on what goes into making tyres u can point out to people what they should be buying.as for me the only tyres id put on my commodore or vx landcruiser is the bridgestone so my rant over.

[mudlva]

[Crash bandicoot]

I had problems with 2 tyres, one puncture & one total blow out, now for the questions

Complaint is for a tire ply failure on a firestone firehawk rmt tire size ... I bought my focus in 2000. since then i have suffered 2 blowouts

Among the models Fish and Game experienced problems with were certain Firestone Firehawk ATX tires, which had blown out so often employees had their own name for them.

"We called them 'Deathhawks,"' said Dave Conrad. "Almost every one of our guys had one of those tires go bad on them."

Jun 30, 2009 - Firestone nearly doubles previous tire recall ... Bridgestone is recalling 127,000 Firestone tires sold in 2007 and ..

FIRESTONE FIRESTONE 9999, At 21,000 Vehicle had four blowouts ...... Left Rear Tire Blew Out while driving (firestone firehawk rmt lt2677516). nlm.

[Crash bandicoot]

Whilst googling, on every page of recording damaged tyres there was only one from an oppositions company and it was a Goodyear.

a ratio of 49:1.

whats really bad is firestone knew four years before one of there recalls that the tires were not up to scratch.... and you sit there and think they are ok...

get real aye.

[smurf182]

in my 14 yrs with bridgestone i have not had a customer complain about the rmt. in fact i have just removed a set of a clients navara which had done 70 thou k on them. i guess its each to there own. as for crashs statement bridgestone spend millions of dollars on r&d a year. the majority of there performance tyres like the s001 where developed during their time with f1. and yes there was a recall donkey years ago regarding the explorer and it was the wilderness atx which was never releaseed in our country. and the fords did roll with the dunlops on. but hey everyone is a tyre expert so guess with all ya industry expertise and knowledge on what goes into making tyres u can point out to people what they should be buying.as for me the only tyres id put on my commodore or vx landcruiser is the bridgestone so my rant over.

With respect dude, don't take it personally.

Most people these days don't bother complaining because they expect most large companies will just poke their tongue out at you, this goes for any product not just tyres. People just tell all their mates they had a bad experience and chose a different product next time round. Hence feedback, good or bad, rarely gets back to the retailer.

My personal experience with Firestone ATX 23s is they are pretty average in all aspects, perhaps below average even, but they are not a premium tyre, so people should keep this in perspective.

[ChurchurDan]

I work in a small town across the road from a Bridgestone tyre centre. When my work ute (2wd Navara) needed tyres I went across the road and had a yarn with the tyre man, explained what I wanted how the vehicle was used and where it was taken and that it often has a bit of weight in the back.
He advised me on what tyres to fit so we had a set fitted. They lasted for about 30thou then they were not warrantable. I was not impressed. The tyre man then suggested a different tyre, so we tried those they lasted about 50thou they were a lot dearer as well.

My current set are GT Radials that came from an independent shop, they are lasting really well so far work better off and on the seal and are cheaper.

I also had the Bridgestone man fit some dessert duellers to my wife's R50. I was happy with these until it rained. They are terrible in the wet, they wont grip on acceleration or under brakes and they are hopeless on shingle.
The half worn Hankook Dynapro M/Ts on my own navara run rings around them in every aspect of driving. I will never buy another bridgestone firestone product.

[Lchundy]

Never bothered using firestone or bridgestone tyres on any of my 4x4s.
But ive used bridgestone potenza on all my performance based cars for years,i know there tyres out there that grip better but i like the way they dont just let go at the limit bit more predictable

[shortylux]

My Jeep has different tyres front and rear.

I have been disappointed with the front end traction on the Jeep on wet roads. Back end holds on ok (not amazing but ok), but seems to easy to make the front sledge. I assumed it was "a Jeep thing".

After reading this thread I went out side to see what the Jeep was wearing.
Firestones on the front and Goodyears on the back.

Might have to swap them round and see if it makes a difference.

[mylux]

This was from you in 2009

The Destinations are apparently made by Firestone here in NewZealand so you would think they could come up with a tyre that would go the distance on New Zealand roads. Due to the fact that Firestone's customer service were arrogant and quick to point the finger at the way my vehicle was set up (wheel alignment and balance done by my local Firestone store)and my driving style. Due to the fact that the Dunlop AT2 which I replaced the Destination Tyres with also went close to 100,000km without even bothering with a wheel alignment and were still on the vehicle when I sold it.
Firestone will never ever see another dollar of mine.
I look after my tyres and with my driving style I expect to get at least 65,000 km out of a set of 4wd tyres. 40,000 just doesn't cut the mustard.

Plus you have made many threads relating to bad experiences with Bridgestone/Firestone Tyres.
Who do you work for

[Fourbyfour]

This was from you in 2009

The Destinations are apparently made by Firestone here in NewZealand so you would think they could come up with a tyre that would go the distance on New Zealand roads. Due to the fact that Firestone's customer service were arrogant and quick to point the finger at the way my vehicle was set up (wheel alignment and balance done by my local Firestone store)and my driving style. Due to the fact that the Dunlop AT2 which I replaced the Destination Tyres with also went close to 100,000km without even bothering with a wheel alignment and were still on the vehicle when I sold it.
Firestone will never ever see another dollar of mine.
I look after my tyres and with my driving style I expect to get at least 65,000 km out of a set of 4wd tyres. 40,000 just doesn't cut the mustard.

Plus you have made many threads relating to bad experiences with Bridgestone/Firestone Tyres.
Who do you work for

I work for a prominent boatbuilding company in Auckland and also do contract to a large transport company if that has any relevance. Yes I have had one or two problems with Firestone franchises in the past, I was prepared to give the Bridgestone a try even though it still comes under the Bridgestone Firestone banner, people had advised me that the Bridgestone was a superior product to the Firestone range, today I am not so sure.The promise of a company discount that never eventuated and slack customer service seems to be a trait right through the B/F organisation. I have recently got a set of the Yoko AT-S fitted off Harris Road Tyrepower and am happy with the service, the grip and the softer ride, at least Tyrepower stuck to their quote.