NHTSA Complaint #10010541 — 2001 DODGE DAKOTA

DEAR SIRS, I HAVE ATTACHES A COPY OF THE NOTE I SENT TO GOODYEAR RUBBER COMPANY IN REGARDS TO THE TIRES ON MY VEHICLE. IT SOUNDS SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE A PROBLEM THAT FIRESTONE HAD AND MAY RESULT IN ACCIDENTS. I THOUGHT I WOULD LET YOU KNOW AS WELL FOR YOUR DATABASE. I HAVE 3 OUT OF 4 GOODYEAR WILDERNESS TRACKER TIRES THAT ARE FACTORY TIRES ON MY DODGE DAKOTA THAT HAVE 2-4 INCH SPLITS ON THE SIDEWALL NEXT TO THE BEAD. SOME ARE ON THE OUTSIDE BUT SOME ARE ON THE INSIDE SIDEWALL. THE GOODYEAR DEALER OFFERED ME 40 $ OFF A 120$ REPLACEMENT TIRE . THE TIRES HAVE 27,000 MILES ON THEM. NOT ONLY IS THAT UNACCEPTABLE FOR AN OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE TIRE BUT I DID NOT WANT MORE OF THE SAME TIRE. I DISCOVERED THIS PROBLEM AS I HAD 2 REAR TIRES GOING FLAT WITH NO FOREIGN OBJECTS IN THE TREAD. THE GOODYEAR REP STATED THAT HE HAD SEEN THIS PROBLEM BEFORE SO IT IS OBVIOUSLY A MANUFACTURING DEFECT AND IS UNSAFE. WHILE I DOUBT GOODYEAR WILL OFFER ME ANY REIMBURSEMENT I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND I WILL BE CONTACTING DODGE AND THE NHTSA WITH MY CONCERNS AS WELL . IT WOULD BE QUITE DISASTROUS IF THE TIRE SEPARATED FROM THE BEAD WHILE AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS. TIM FULTZ....*NLM