ONE word that manufacturers are paranoid about is the word "recall".It means that the manufacturer admits that the safety and security of the vehicle and passengers has been compromised.No manufacturer can afford such negative publicity because it will make a major dent in sales.

Once the confidence of the consumer is shaken, it can lead to serious consequences for the manufacturer. In the 1970s, a government-backed recall almost bankrupted the Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company. In 1988 Bridgestone bought the stumbling Firestone Company.

In August this year Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford motors jointly announced the recall of 14.4 million tyres that contain a safety-related defect. Simply put, the tyres were coming apart; "shredding" is the proper term. Imagine driving on the highway with your family and a tyre of your vehicle coming apart. Your only contact with Mother Earth is lost. And the car will behave like an uncontrolled missile that will slip, slide and skid with a mind of its own. In case of a front-wheel blow-out, the driver may not be able to control the car.

The recalled tyres were O.E fitments on Ford Explorer. Plus there were some used as replacements on other cars as well.

There is a remote possibility of these tyres coming to India, but there are a number of Ford Explorers in Delhi. Tyres manufactured since 1991 are being recalled. This means that these tyres may be available in the spare-parts market.

The owners of Gypsy, Sumo, Safari and other such vehicles who like to fit off road treaded tyres should know that the recall covers P235/75 R 15 Firestone ATX tyres from 1991 till the present as well as all P235/75 R 15 Wildernesses AT tyres from 1996 till the present.

Firestone estimates that approximately 8.2 million tyres covered by the recall are still on the road. Is yours one of them? The 15" tyre is common to a lot of vehicles in India and we do love those heavy, flat imported tyres.This tyre size can easily fit in the Indian-made rims.

All this brings us to one conclusion. Nothing is as important to the safety, braking and road-holding capacity of a vehicle, as the tyre. Tyre pressure is a crucial factor. Make sure the tyres are inflated as per the tyre manufacturer’s recommendations.

One of the bones of contention between Ford and Firestone is that Ford recommended 26 pounds per square inch (p.s.i) for the tyres, while Firestone recommended 30 p.s.i. This difference could have been the reason for the tyre malfunction.

Only last week we spoke about the importance of exact tyre pressure and came to the conclusion that we must follow the manufacturer’s specifications, that is the tyre manufacturer and not the car manufacturer. The Ford-Firestone fiasco could have resulted because of this difference.

The recalled tyres were also sold on the open market. Watch out, if you have Firestone tyres that begin with P-235 or Wilderness AT. These are the problem tyres.

Happy motoring!