Wow. I don't know you, but I'm pretty sure that Chopper has contributed more to this community than most of us here, and so deserves to be heard and respected.
Fact is, Ford (sadly) has a long history of cutting corners to save a buck. Pinto. Wilderness AT. Exploding Crown Vics. I'm sure there's more.
In the 90's, if you didn't get Firestones on your Ford, you got Generals. Another craptacular choice.
The Firestone M/Ts do look nice, and I like that fact that they are pinned for studs, but the stigma remains, and I will never, ever buy a set.
Nor will I put my family in an Explorer.
Bridgestone is a whole 'nother organization. I run Blizzaks on the truck in the winter (6 of 'em -ouch!), and most of our company trucks run Bridgestone commercials or AT Revos up and down the Dalton Highway (aka the worst road in America) all summer.
I give Bridgestone 2 thumbs up, but Firestone (and Ford, by association) get two different fingers.
For pure bang-for-the-buck tires though, I've found myself going to Dunlop more and more.
SP901s on my old WRX, Sport 9000s on the ML55, M/Ts on the Ironman.
In fact, my affair with Dunlop began 10 years ago when I replaced the General AmerTracs on my FORD F250 with a set of M/Ts. So, I guess that I can thank Ford - a little.