Whatever You Drive, Drive a Firestone
Firestone Tire & Rubber was founded in 1900 in Akron, OH by Harvey Firestone and became the OE supplier of tires for the Ford Motor Company, pioneering the mass production of passenger tires in 1906. They also sold franchises and William O’Neal, founder of General Tire, was one of its franchisees. In the 30s, they offered the world first low-pressure tractor tire, replacing the solid steel wheel.
By 1955, it was the largest rubber producer in the world, producing one million pounds a day!
Firestone acquired Dayton Tire In 1961 and Seiberling Rubber in 1969.
Firestone struggled to keep up with innovation and had major problems with its steel belted radial tires, recalling over 7 million tires by 1978. By 1979, Firestone was in massive debt and after years of bad publicity, millions of dollars paid out as compensation to victims and operating at a loss, it was sold to Bridgestone in 1988.
Since it’s merge with Bridgestone, they have slowly been able to shed its stigma from almost 40 years ago. They have been making high quality LT tires in the Destination series and commercial truck tires for a better part of 2 decades.
Types of Firestone Tires:
- Passenger Tires
- Performance Tires
- Ultra High Performance Tires
- SUV/Crossover Tires
- Minivan Tires
- Light Truck Tires
- Commercial Tires