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I personally would never mount Firestone or Bridgestone tires on any of my vehicles if you paid me.
I don't forget the fiasco that killed over 200 people with the Firestone tires made in the Decatur plant (ATXs, ATX IIs and Wilderness ATs). These tires were manufactured without a nylon belt in a cost saving measure and most of these tires were mounted as OEM on Ford vehicles. The nylon belt would have increased the manufacturing cost of the tire less than a buck a tire. Bridgestone ultimately closed the Decatur plant, and has subsequently been trying to rebrand itself under the Bridgestone name staying away from the toxic Firestone brand.
Firestone was completely disingenuous in addressing the failures of their tires attempting to blame the suspension of the Ford Explorer. The NHTSA recall was to simply replace the Firestone tires with tires of a another manufacturer. In removing Firestone tires from the vehicles they were made safe.
Part of the problem with the Firestone tires is that the tires were not being properly inflated to account for the cost cutting construction method. In the off roading world we typically air down our tires to less than 10psi. The Firestone Wilderness AT is not an aggressive off road tire, but it is a tire that any driver would have reasonably expected they could air down to improve traction off road.
House brand tires don't cut it when you're thirty miles from anything that could be confused for a road like when you're wheelin'.
I've seen pictures of a BF Goodrich All-Terrain KO hitting a big rock at speed on a buggy. It absolutely destroyed the aluminum rim. I mean literally destroyed it the aluminum rim was mangled. They remounted the tire on a new rim and drove away.
I personally always run BF Goodrich tires, but I'd feel comfortable on any major name tire Pirelli, Michelin, Continental. I wouldn't wager my family's life on house brand tires for anything. Remember, tires are the only thing connecting your car to the road.
Just my two cents.
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