The spare tire is held tight against the under body of the pickup bed with a chain crank. The gear mechanism that raises and lowers the tire slowly released the tire to the point that edge of the tire (presumably due to bumps in the road) contacted the pavement. The tire became almost vertical and at a right angle to the direction of the vehicle. An estimated 4 miles was drive before the driver became aware of the problem when an observant motorcyclist motioned the vehicle over. The tire was very hot where it contacted the pavement but had not yet ignited. The tire was roped to the frame to keep it off the pavement to safely drive to a service center. The photo of the tire under the truck shows its approximate position during the incident. The actual position was almost vertical. The photo of the tire chain clamp bracket shows it's position without the tire. The crank mechanism was damaged to the point that the chain could not raise or lower the bracket. A tire fire would have resulted if the vehicle was driven much further. The manufacturer will be contacted.

- Portland, OR, USA

2019 Ford Ranger purchased Nov. 2019 has 18,00 miles. Tires wearing out on inside front tires. Brought to dealer for alignment, but they were busy, took it to nearby shop and they aligned it, but said it was not that out of alignment. They checked the tires and stated that all 4 tires were separated.

- Donaldsonville, LA, USA

Had 2 rear tires fail within the first 5000 miles. The first at 3900 miles developed a blister on the sidewall and went flat. The second at about 300 miles later developed a slow leak that could not be fixed

- Acworth, GA, USA