There are 9 stored owner reports matching the tires & wheels leading-label group for the 2003 Ford Excursion in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 9 of 9 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)My wife, two young daughters, and I were traveling out of town for the New Year. As we were traveling southbound on I-85 between Greensboro, North Carolina and Thomasville, North Carolina, I started to notice that the vehicle was starting to vibrate. Over the course of the next +\- 10 miles the vibration became much worse and eventually forced me to get off of the highway. I exited the highway at exit 103 on I-85 southbound (NC-109) and was able to get the vehicle to a National Tire and Battery Shop located at 2 Cloniger Dr, Thomasville, NC 27360. Upon inspection, they noticed a large bulge in the driver side rear tire and told me that they thought that I might have broken a belt inside of the tire. They were able to get it off and put on the full size spare, thus allowing us to get to our destination. I strongly believe that had I not exited the highway when I did, there was a high likelyhood that the tire could have blown thus causing us to crash. With that said, this failure put my entire family at risk. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The tire has only been inspected by the National Tire and Battery that took it off and replaced it with the full size spare. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The problem started they day of the incident as we were traveling southbound on I-85 between Greensboro, North Carolina and Thomasville, North Carolina. Tire Size - LT 265/75 R 16
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 FORD EXCURSION EQUIPPED WITH B.F. GOODRICH RUGGED TERRAIN (NA), TIRE LINE: LT26575R16 LOAD RANGER E (NA) TIRES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TREAD SEPARATED ON THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE. THE TIRE WAS NOT REPLACED. THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 24,000 AND THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 98,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 FORD EXCURSION WITH COPPER REPLACEMENT TIRES, MODEL DISCOVERY HT 265/70R/16. WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH, THE CASING FRACTURED FROM THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE. THE TIRE WAS REPLACED. ONE YEAR LATER, THE EXACT SAME FAILURE OCCURRED ON THE DRIVER SIDE TIRE WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INVOLVED IN A CRASH. THE VEHICLE WAS FLIPPED ONCE, PROCEEDED TO CRASH INTO A TREE AND THEN LANDED UPRIGHT. ONE PASSENGER SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES. A POLICE REPORT WAS AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND REQUESTED TO FURTHER INSPECT THE TIRES. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 12,000.
DRIVING ON COUNTRY ROAD APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH A THUDDING NOISE WAS HEARD AND FELT IN THE TRUCK. AFTER PULLING OVER FOUND THE DIRVERS SIDE REAR TIRE TO BE BLOWN - EITHER SIDEWALL FAILURE OR PARTIAL TREAD SEPARATION. THIS WAS ON A FIRESTONE STEELTEX R4S RUNNING A 55 PSI ON A 2003 FORD EXCURSION EDDIE BAUER. TIRES HAD APPROXIMATELY 50,000 MILES ON THEM. I REPLACED WITH THE SPARE AND CONTINUED ON SAFELY. A SEARCH OF THE INTERNET REVEALED THIS SITE AND LAWYER SITES DETAILING SIMILAR FAILURES. WILL BE CONTACTING FIRESTONE. *NM
RECALL CAMPAIGN, DEFECTIVE FIRESTONE TIRES. THE REPLACEMENT TIRES HAVE NOT COME IN FOR THE FORD. *BF *SC
I SPOKE TO FORD & FIRESTONE ABOUT THE VOLUNTARY SAFETY CAMPAIGN. WHEN I SPOKE TO FORD ON THE FIRST OCCASSION, I WAS TOLD THAT THE ORIGINAL TIRE SIZE ON MY EXCURSION WAS LT265/75R16. I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THE REPLACEMENT AFFECTED THE "D" LOAD RANGE TIRES. I SPOKE WITH FIRESTONE AND THEY INSTRUCTED ME TO CONTACT ONE OF THE FIRESTONE CORPORATE STORES AND VISIT THE STORE TO GET THE TIRES REPLACED. I PROCEED TO THE STORE, FIRESTONE EMPLOYEE ORDERS THE TIRES. THE TIRES COME IN FOR INSTALLATION. I VISIT THE STORE TO HAVE THE TIRES INSTALLED, AND THEY TELL ME THAT THIS EXACT TIRE IS NOT PART OF THE SAFETY PROGRAM. FORD EXPLAINED TO ME THAT AN "E" LOAD RANGE TIRE IS WHAT IS BEING REPLACED IN THE SAFETY PROGRAM. AN "E" LOAD RANGE TIRE IS A 10 PLY TIRE. A "D" LOAD RANGE TIRE IS AN 8 PLY TIRE. IF FIRESTONE IS REPLACING THE OTHER STEELTEX RADIAL "D" LOAD RANGE TIRES WITH AN "E" LOAD RANGE, HOW IS IT POSSIBLY SAFE FOR ME TO HAVE A "D" LOAD RANGE TIRE ON A HEAVIER TRUCK THAT HAS A DIESEL MOTOR? MY EXACT TIRE IS A STEELTEX RADIAL R4S LT265/75R16 AND IT HAS A "D" LOAD RANGE. IF THE OTHER "D" LOAD RANGE TIRES ARE UNSAFE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE WRONG LOAD RANGE, WHY ARE MY EXACT TIRES NOT BEING REPLACED? I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE A CRASH, FIRE, FATALITY, OR TIRE FAILURE BECAUSE THE INCORRECT TIRE IS ON MY TRUCK. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT CAPACITIES A "D" LOAD RANGE TIRE COVERS WITH THE TRUCK'S GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT AND THE TRUCK'S GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT WHEN TOWING THE MAXIMUM CAPACITY. I DO TOW A HEAVY BOAT AND I WANT TO BE ASSURED THAT I HAVE THE RIGHT TIRES ON THE TRUCK. IF FORD OR FIRESTONE PUT INCORRECT TIRES ON THE TRUCK THAT ARE A SAFETY HAZARD, I WANT THE PROPER TIRES REPLACED BY FORD OR FIRESTONE AND INSTALLED ON MY TRUCK. WILL YOU PROVIDE ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS VIA E-MAIL OR IN WRITING TO THE ADDRESS OR E-MAIL ADDRESS INCLUDED? THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN INVESTIGATING THIS MATTER. MONTE BRACKETT . *AK
CONSUMER RECEIVED A VOLUNTARY RECALL NOTICE AND QUESTIONED WHAT LOAD RANGE TIRES SHOULD BE ON HIS 2003 FORD EXCURSION 4X4 LIMITED DIESEL. *PH *JB
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 FORD EXCURSION. THE VEHICLE HAS MICHELIN LTX M/S TIRES, SIZE 265/75/R16. WHEN THE CONTACT PURCHASED THE VEHICLE, HE NOTICED THAT THE TIRES WERE FIRESTONE TIRES. THEY WERE NOT THE CORRECT TIRES HE ORIGINALLY ORDERED. THE CONTACT INFORMED THE DEALER OF THE INCORRECT TIRES AND WAS GIVEN BRAND NEW REPLACEMENT TIRES, WHICH WHERE MICHELIN CLASS C'S. WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED, THE VEHICLE WOULD SWAY FROM SIDE TO SIDE. HE NOTICED THAT THE WALLS ON THE TIRES WERE CRACKING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT DUE TO THE THICKNESS OF THE THREADS, THE TIRES WOULD WOBBLE. ONCE THE THREADING BEGAN TO WEAR, THE VEHICLE WOULD STOP WOBBLING. HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO SWAY FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TAKEN TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP AND INSPECTED BY A TECHNICIAN, WHO DETERMINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE INCORRECT GRADE FOR THE WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE. THE TIRES SHOULD HAVE BEEN A CLASS E (LOAD RANGE 5,250) INSTEAD OF A CLASS C (LOAD RANGE 2,270). THE TIRES WERE REPLACED WITH MICHELIN CLASS E TIRES AT THE COST OF $907.45. THE CONTACT CALLED THE FORD MANUFACTURER AND FILED A REPORT. HE CALLED BACK TO FOLLOW UP WITH THE MANUFACTURER AND WAS INFORMED THAT NO COMPENSATION WOULD BE PROVIDED AND WAS NOT GIVEN AN EXPLANATION. THE DOT INFORMATION WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 60,000. UPDATED 06/09/09 *BF UPDATED 06/10/09. *JB
THE FIRESTONE TIRES INSTALLED ON THE VEHICLE WERE THE INCORRECT PLY. THE VEHICLE HAD 8 PLY, WHEN THEY SHOULD HAD BEEN E 10 PLY. *JB
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: May 3, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.