Gary C. Eto

Gary C. Eto

(310) 320-7700

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License# 117937

Tire Defect Attorney

Tire Defects & Tread Separation

tire failedThe only California attorney who participated in the deposition of Firestone's CEO in the tire defect case of 2000.

View the settlement Gary Eto won against Firestone.

Firestone Tire Recall & Ford Explorer Rollovers. The recent rash of tread separations resulting in the national recall of Firestone tires produced hundreds of product liability and defective tire lawsuits against Bridgestone / Firestone and Ford Motor Company. These recalled Firestone tires that came as original equipment on the Ford Explorer (which often rolled over as a result of the tread separation) are examples of claims of a defect - in these cases, both the tire and the vehicle were claimed to be defective. Because the tire is a component of the vehicle itself, plaintiffs claimed that the entire vehicle, as a system, is defective. (Even one of Ford's experts agreed that the Ford Explorer with Firestone tires was a defect) Further, because the Ford Explorer SUV itself was claimed to have a high center of gravity and historic instability problems, plaintiffs also contend that the Ford Explorer itself is defective. The claims of defect in the Explorer include model years 1991-1994, which had the Twin I-Beam suspension, which dangerously raised the SUV's center of gravity in turning motions and in accident avoidance maneuvers (a concept referred to as "jacking") and subsequent model years,1995 -2001, when Ford replaced the Twin I Beam suspension with the SLA ("short/long arm") suspension which was 200 pounds lighter, and failed to lower the engine - a dangerous subsequent design which also resulted in a raised center of gravity and also produced the rollover effect in the Explorer.

Defective Tire Claims, Tread Separations. Since the late 1990's there has been a proliferation of product liability lawsuits against tire manufacturers in general, such as Cooper Tire and Rubber Co., Continental General Tire, Goodyear, Uniroyal-Goodrich and Michelin. The tire defects alleged include tread separations, blowouts, debeading, zipper failures, mismatched tires, etc.