TrackNBlack,
The only problem with that TSB is that most of the people with the cupping tires were in the early 2001-2002 Sport Trac's and they are not mentioned in the TSB, and there were no suspension changes until 2007......So ???
My original 2001 Job-1 Sport Trac came with Firestone tires that I replaced withing 2 weeks with Goodyear Wrangler RF/A's (Rotation Free, AquaTreads) They had a smooth ride, never needed rotation, and ran through water like they were on rails. The Sport Trac was a leased vehicle and I returned the vehicle back to Ford with just over 42K miles and purchased my 2003 Sport Trac.
The 2001 Sport Trac had the original shocks, never needed an alignment, and I only had the tires balanced every 5K-6K miles, for free with the Goodyear roadhazard insurance and lifetime balancing (Which Ford paid for as part of their recall of the Firestone Tires) When I turned the truck back into Ford the tires showl very little signs of wear and I would have easily gotten 60K-65K miles on them (they were guaranteed for 65K treadwear)
My Honday came with Michelins and I was not very pleased with them. Wet weather traction was OK for the first 10K miles and then they became as slippery as the Wranglers. They wore out prematurely even with numerous alignments and constant rotation. I found that front-wheel drive vehicles need far more frequent tire rotations than the usuaal 5K miles. 3K miles is more like it if you want your tires to last, so just do the rotation with your oil changes. I've had other front-wheel drive vehicles before and after the Honda, but the Honda was the worst for front tire wear, and the Honda dealer was the only place that could do a proper 4 wheel alignment.
Shocks can cause the cupping but in the case of the Sport Trac it already has weak shocks. But everyone is getting the same flimsy shocks and not everyone is getting cupping problems. It seems to effect Sport Tracs with the original Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires. That's why I think that tire is more suseptible to being damaged by minor collisions with pot holes, curbs or other road hazards that most people feel should not cause that much damage to the tire.
In most cases it may take 1000 miles or more before the cupping and bouncing become noticable. By then most people don't even remember hitting that little pot hole. They may have even hit that pot hole a dozen times on the way to work and only once did it hit just right and damage the core of the tire. Couple this with the fact that a larger number of people will used the Sport Trac off road hitting rocks logs and other objects that are part of the off-road experience but the tire is not capable of taking that kind of punishment.
I think my Goodyears hold up well because I don't venture off road with them and most of the roads in Texas are in pretty good shape.
....Rich
