1.   And tire problems rank first among the difficulties he sees.

2.   Besides the tiresome tire problem, Labonte will have to contend with sweltering heat.

3.   A tire problem sent him, too, into the wall.

4.   But Ford officials welcomed the consumer advisory as an indication that tire-related deaths were the result of tire problems and not a vehicle defect.

5.   But the Ford Motor Co. cited the advisory as evidence that scores of fatal crashes involving Explorers were the result of tire problems, not vehicle defects.

6.   Company officials said that since Ford routinely directs its customers with tire problems to the tire manufacturers, the small numbers were not surprising.

7.   Congressional committees are also beginning to look into the tire problem.

8.   Even before the Firestone tire problems, automakers had begun to make changes to their sport utilities.

9.   Even with the tire problems, Explorers have a lower death rate in rollovers per million vehicles on the road than other midsized sport utility vehicles.

10.   Ford has increasingly blamed Firestone for the tire problems, which have mainly caused problems on Ford Explorers.