NHTSA Complaint #10151459 — 2004 NISSAN ARMADA

OUR MECHANIC INFORMED US THAT HE BELIEVED THE TIRES ON OUR NISSAN ARMADA WERE NOT RATED HIGH ENOUGH TO TOW THE CAPACITY THAT NISSAN CLAIMS THEY WILL. STANDARD WITH THE ARMADA ARE P265 70 R18 "PASSENGER" TIRES THAT ARE 4 PLY. WE TOW A LARGE 3 HORSE TRAILER THAT WHEN LOADED TO CAPACITY IS AT THE LIMITS OF THE ARMADA, NOT TO MENTION THE INCREASED WEIGHT OF PASSENGERS AND LUGGAGE IN THE ARMADA. WE HAVE CONTACTED NUMEROUS TIRE COMPANIES ASKING ABOUT WHAT TIRES THEY WOULD RECOMMEND KNOWING THAT IT IS OUR INTENT TO TOW HEAVY LOADS, NOT TO EXCEED THE LIMITS OF THE VEHICLE. NO TIRE COMPANY (GOODYEAR, BF GOODRICH, LES SCHWAB) STATED THEY WOULD SELL US "P" RATED 4 PLY TIRES FOR OUR VEHICLE BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THE TIRES WERE NOT UP TO THE JOB OF HANDLING SUCH HEAVY WEIGHT CAPACITY. RENO NISSAN SAYS THERE IS "NO PROBLEM", HOWEVER, WHEN WE EXPLAINED TO THEM THE PROBLEM WITH THE ARMADA "BRAKE RECALL" AND THE "TRAILER WIRING" RECALL, WE TOLD THEM WE DIDN'T BELIEVE THEM. ALSO, THE XTERRA HAD A "TRAILER HITCH" RECALL BECAUSE THE HITCH SYSTEM WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE LOADS NISSAN SAID THEY WOULD. WE HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH SEVERAL REP'S FROM NHTSA WHO ASKED THAT WE FILE THIS FORMAL COMPLAINT ABOUT THE TOW CAPACITY RATING/TIRES OF THE ARMADA. FORTUNATELY, THERE HAVE BEEN NO FAILURES WITH REGARDS TO OUR TOWING, HOWEVER, THE ARMADA IS NEW AND FEW PEOPLE MAY HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE THIS PROBLEM. ADDITIONALLY, IT IS UNKNOWN HOW MANY OWNERS ACTUALLY USE THE ARMADA FOR THIS TYPE OF TOWING APPLICATION WHICH WOULD SKEW THE NUMBER OF REPORTED FAILURES AND/OR COMPLAINTS RELATING TO IMPROPER TIRES SUPPLIED BY NISSAN. WITH THE FAILURE OF THE BRAKING SYSTEM AND THE TRAILER WIRING HARNESS ON THE ARMADA, IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO SUSPECT THAT NISSAN ENGINEERS SIMPLY MADE ANOTHER MISTAKE AS NISSAN WAS TRYING TO GET INTO THE LARGE SUV MARKET. *JB