Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's

[nitrofan1]

Got a set last month when I decided to drop my 2wd lifted idea and went back to what the truck was meant to be, a street rod (still working on it!). The tires are back to stock size P235/60R15's, raised white letters M+S and S speed rated. Firestone went through well deserved hell for the Exploder roll over crap. I went with firestone cause of the scrutiny they have endured the last 6 years and man have their tires improved. Quiet, killer wet weather traction, great cornering ability for an S speed tire. If you want a "solid" white letter street radial I recommend then highly!!

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm23/nitrofan1/SDC10060.jpg

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

I bought these same tires last spring. I like them a lot, but they are NOT snow tires, or even close to it by any stretch of the imagination, do not even attempt to treat them like they are. Even with 400 pounds in the bed centered over the axle, they do NOT give adequate snow traction. My B2500 sat most of the winter because of this.

If you want decent winter traction, get winter tires. Blizzaks are fantastic in the snow, I've run them on 3 different vehicles and never felt afraid to put them through their paces.

[AllanD]

The Firestone Indy 500 is actually not a newer tire design.

IT is a "Relabeled" tire that was formerly sold as the
"Firestone Super Sport" (to be specific their SS20 model)

They are NOT a "Low Bidder" tire like the ATX tires that had issues on the explorers.
but in point of fact in terms of passenger/mile-average the firestones weren't nearly as bad as the Generals and Uniroyals that ford also supplied on Explorers in that era

I ran through two sets of those on my ranger while it was still a 2.9 2wd.
While mine were the "SS" labeled firestones they ARE the same tire
(when I got my second set you could choose between either set
of lettering with no cost difference)
I chose to stick with the SS letered tires because the lettering matched
the two I was keeping as spares

I was running them in 225/70-14 on 14x7 aftermarket rims.
(Old school American racing "White Wagon" wheels)

the fact that after running one set for just over 30,000 miles
I bought another identical set says a lot about how I felt about
those tires.

I don't buy crap a second time

I've recommended the SS20 under it's older name and it's current
name many times.

BTW, are you aware that tire has a unique construction that allows a
greater tread width than other brand tires the same numerical size?


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[Mac]

Good reviews and good news! Really been looking at them, had heard they worked good in the rain and cornering. Use the Winter truck for the snow which don't feel too far off, had a low of 39 the other night.
Dave

[bagdranger]

i work at a firestone auto center and we install a good number of these tires with alot of good feedback. i personally dont own any but i deal with alot of these tires.

[ranger sport honduras]

we had the old firehawks on the 93 ranger and we had those on the 03 ranger
good tires, they look really good, make no noise and they have good grip on dry streets.
we carry usually 1500~1700 lbs on the trucks and they had no problem, driving on dirt roads too.

we went for mastercraft this time since the firehawks went bald.
mastercraft is built by cooper iirc

[bagdranger]

Mastercraft has some good tires. Really quiet and smooth on the highway.