Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (wheels, lug nuts, original-equipment tires, TPMS).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1998 Ford Explorer owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tire - tread separation vehicle - Ford Explorer (1998) tires - Firestone (purchased somewhere in the 2003-2005 timeframe). These tires were snow tires and are used only a few months out of each year, so there is low mileage on them. At approximately 1 pm, my daughter left a school function in burbank, wa, and turned onto highway 12. She accelerated; about 100 yards later, just as she reached the snake river bridge, the left rear tire lost its tread. She was going less than 50 MPH. The car was uncontrollable, spun around, and smashed into the concrete barrier of the bridge. The car was severely damaged (totaled). No other cars were involved.
My seat belt on my passenger side does not work half the time. My door locks do not work right. I can't get my window on the driver side to go up and down. I hit a tree going 55 miles an hour in my airbag did not even deploy. I'm lucky I'm still alive. The fenders rubbing up against my tire. Speed control is wrong. Whenever I'm going 55 miles an hour it says 57 actually I don't remember the correct date. But I'm sure it shows I know it was 2017. Somebody ran me off the road. My truck hit the tree and my airbag did not deploy. I'm lucky it didn't I guess because don't airbags have metal shards in them is what I was told
Vehicle experienced unexpected acceleration. When approaching a stop vehicle accelerated intermittently, and while driving consumer's vehicle smashed into two other vehicles. Consumer was aware that this problem was ongoing, and would like to know why the manufacturer had not recalled vehicle. Took vehicle to the dealer, and after the vehicle was evaluated by the service technicians, consumer was told that the problem could not be duplicated. The consumer had a tire failure.
As I was merging onto the highway onto the on ramp like any other morning going to work I began to yield as there was traffic coming in my direction. As I began to yield my car flipped over as if someone purposely tilted the vehicle over. The air bags did not deploy the car rolled over onto my left arm and leg breaking my ankle and causing many other injuries and distress.
Was driving approximately 75mph when the tread separated from the tire. This caused the vehicle to be steered towards a hill and bounced off it. The vehicle then rolled over and landed onto the lane, on its roof. Firestone wilderness at; size p255 70r16. Ts
I recently heard about Firestone's recall notice. My daughter and niece were driving my 1998 Explorer on highway 85 in gaston county, north carolina, last October. The speed limit is 65 miles per hour. The back tire blew out/came off the rim and caused an accident. The Explorer flipped over twice and slid on its side across 3 lanes of traffic. Fortunately, no other cars were involved. As a result of the accident, my daughter and niece were taken to the hospital for injuries (whiplash, cuts, abrasions, and bruises). They had follow up visits to the doctor for pain and stiffness and were put on medication. The Explorer was totaled. Therefore, I lost the several thousand dollars that had already been paid on the vehicle, plus medical bills, had to purchase another vehicle, and my insurance rates were raised. Needless to say, I did not purchase another Explorer. …
On 6/18/2000 our 1998 Ford Explorer with Firestone blow-out or a tread problewilderness at tires went out of control after making a sharp steering maneuver to avoid another car. Our vehicle subsequently rolled over (we were told) six times. We do not believe there was a tire m, but what we suspect happened is debeading of the tires. We have read your 130 page report from July 1999 entitled "an experimental examination of selected maneuvers that May induce on-road untripped, light vehicle rollovers - phase ii of NHTSA's 1997-1998 vehicle rollover research program". We are concerned that with the amount of emphasis currently being placed on the blow-out/tread problem, that this other problem of tire debeading is being ignored. We have pictures of our vehicle from after the accident that show the tires separated from the rims (debeaded). …
I was traveling in my 1998 Ford Explorer with my son and fiance to bullhead, az. Traveling east on hwy40. About 30 miles west of needles, ca I experienced a blown tire on my left rear wheel. These tires were a year old and later we discovered a nail in the tire. We safely merged to the side of the highway and was eventually able to put the spare tire on the left rear. This spare tire is a Firestone wilderness at tire (p235/75 r 15). We traveled again for about 20 miles when the spare tread separated causing my SUV to experience severe movement back and forth and almost tipping over; slapping the tread into the rear fender and hatch of the car. My fiance managed to get the car under somewhat control and get us over to the side of the road. We were traveling approx. …
When towing tralier with this tire/vehicle combination at speeds over 65 (in a 70 MPH zone) MPH the vehicle would begin to fishtail. The trailer and its load only weighed 1,400-1,500 pounds on each occasion with correct balance. The last time this vehicle towed a trailer with these tires the trailer went into an uncontrolable fishtail. This resulted in the vehicle ending in the median with the trailer breaking loose. After purchasing new dunlop tires and a new trailer the vehicle never had a problem with fishtailing. On a few occasions I towed an 18 foot boat at lower speeds and realized very quickly that there was no way it could pull its rated limit of 5,500 pounds (that boat combination was 2,200 pounds). I thinks the NHTSA shouls test this tire under towing conditions as well. These tires never peeled, but they were not given a chance as they were replaced at 10,000 miles. …
We had two incidents of tire blow outs in 4 months the last one occurring on oct 12, 2008. The cause of both blow outs was the tire stem but we did not hear about the recall until I heard it on the news today. We have since bought new tires afraid that it would happen again but what can we do now? I feel like we should be compensated but how? The Ford dealer we bought the tires from is out of business so we could not go there when we realized that it was a tire stem problem and without knowing there was a recall we had no option but to go somewhere else which was American tire. We went to American tire both times it happened for them to fix the tires and they did not mention a recall either. The tires were not old enough to be replaced but for our own safety we did that. I guess I know there is nothing you can do but just wanted to get some advise of what to do, if anything. …
Wheel & Tire complaints in other Explorer years
Frequently asked questions
How common are wheel & tire problems on the 1998 Ford Explorer?
NHTSA has 711 complaints about the wheels & tires of the 1998 Ford Explorer, 36% of the model year's 1,959 complaints. The component named most often is tread/belt (381 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1998 Ford Explorer wheel & tire problems?
No. NHTSA lists no wheels & tires recall for the 1998 Ford Explorer, though it has 9 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1998 Ford Explorer wheel & tire problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 90,000 miles, and 7% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 79 crashes, 1 fire and 134 injuries and 12 deaths to wheels & tires problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.