Tires put pressure on Ford; recall could cut big profits from new Explorer.

Byline: Lawrence Ulrich

Tylenol's product-tampering case. Audi and unintended acceleration. The Exxon Valdez disaster. And now, Ford Motor Co. and its suspect Firestone tires.

As the government investigates 62 deaths and more than 100 injuries linked to now-recalled Firestone tires, mainly on Ford Explorers, the automaker is prominent on the list of corporations tested by a product crisis.

The mushrooming situation is becoming Ford's nastiest public relations black eye since its recall of 1.2 million 1971-76 Ford Pintos because of exploding gas tanks. Anxious Explorer owners are pouring into Ford and Firestone dealerships to demand new tires from a scarce replacement supply.

For Firestone, whose name is becoming synonymous with tire recalls, analysts are wondering out loud if the brand can survive.

For Ford, the stakes are as huge as the sales and profits of its Explorer, the world's top-selling sport-utility in the last decade. In timing that one analyst Analysts said the tire recall could throw a lug wrench into the new Explorer's launch. Safety features will be a …