In a story in The New York Times, Ford Motor Company released documents Sunday indicating that Bridgestone/Firestone began receiving numerous complaints of injuries and property damage involving certain Firestone tires that were not recalled until last Wednesday. Some of the recalled tires have rates of injury up to 100 times greater than the tires not recalled, yet Ford maintains that no notification was received from the tiremaker indicating the problems with the tires. Two-thirds of the tires in question equip many of Ford’s new vehicles, particularly the Explorer. Ford discovered the higher rates though its own computer analysis of the data sent by Bridgestone, and Bridgestone allegedly resisted the release of the analysis. The analysis also revealed that the tires in question mainly were produced at Bridgestone’s facility in Decatur, IL, which had experienced quality problems from 1994 through 1996. During that time, a labor dispute prompted Bridgestone to use replacement workers. Bridgestone officials did not take issue with Ford’s data but said the problem had not caught their attention until Ford began reviewing its files two weeks ago. According to Bridgestone, the overall rate of complaints from all its factories has not been unusually high, and it does not conduct the detailed, factory-specific analysis performed by Ford. Previously the two companies had enjoyed one of the oldest relationships among American businesses, as Firestone, purchased by Bridgestone in 1988, has supplied tires to Ford since 1906. Ralph Hoar, a cofounder of the consulting firm Safetyforum.com, which is coordinating lawsuits against the two companies, maintains that Ford is trying to obscure a defect in the design of the Explorer’s suspension which strains tires, a charge which Ford denies.