Tuesday , September 12, 2000 ; Page E01

On Nov. 30, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a letter from a Ford Explorer owner who said his Firestone tire tread "peeled off like an orange."

"Imagine my shock when the mechanics looked at my tire and told me I was lucky to be alive," the letter said, adding that the mechanics told him that Firestone tires on Explorers "are known to lose tread and contribute to or cause Ford Explorers to flip."

This was among as many as 26 consumer complaints about Firestone tires, filed since the early 1990s, that NHTSA overlooked in January, when reviewing whether to open an investigation into reports of Firestone tire problems.

NHTSA had missed the consumer complaints because of the way its database is organized: They weren't filed under "Firestone" as tire problems; they were filed

Firestone has said it would replace tires included in the 1.4 million covered by the advisory - a variety of 15 and 16-inch tires - but only if consumers requested the change.

Staff writers Greg Schneider and Cindy Skrzycki contributed to this report.

There also have been reports of 53 deaths deaths linked to the tires and Explorers in the Middle East and Venezuela.

NHTSA's Tyson said that even if the agency had taken note of the additional complaints, the number was not sufficient to have prompted it to open an investigation at that time. Opening an investigation is among the agency's first steps in a process that can lead it to order a recall of unsafe vehicles or auto parts.

The gulf between the two companies--which have been doing business for nearly 100 years--only widened when Ford's chief executive, Jacques Nasser, testified after Lampe. He took Firestone to task for failing to share critical claims data with Ford that could have pointed out problems as early as 1998. "This is not the candid and frank dialogue that Ford expects in its business relationships," Nasser said.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Safety Administration, Commerce Committee, Washington Post, Ford Explorer, Co Firestone, Rae Tyson, Ford Explorers, Lampe Firestone, Akron Detroit, Goodyear Invicta, firestone tires, national highway traffic, national highway, highway traffic safety, safety administration, traffic safety administration, traffic safety, highway traffic, washington post, firestone tire, 65 tires, washington post staff, firestone officials, cindy skrzycki, complaints firestone tires,
Approximate Word count = 2228
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)