NHTSA Complaint #11110645 — 2011 NISSAN ALTIMA

I REPLACED ALL FOUR ORIGINAL TIRES ON CAR IN 1/2015. VEHICLE HAD 43K MILES ON; TIRES HAD ALWAYS BEEN ROTATED AND PROPERLY INFLATED TO 32 PSI. DURING THE NEXT MONTHS, I NOTICED INCREASING NOISE AS THE CAR ACCELERATED AND DECELERATED. I TRIED TO DETERMINE THE SOURCE OF THE RYTHMIC THUMPING NOISE BUT WAS UNABLE. I HAD TIRES INSPECTED AND NO PROBLEMS COULD BE FOUND WITH APPROXIMATELY 9,000 MILES ON THE TIRES. I NOTICED INCREASING RHYTHMIC NOISE BUT COULD NOT LOCATE WHICH TIRE WAS THE SOURCE. WE HAD A FLAT TIRE FROM A ROOFING NAIL IN THE RR WHICH REQUIRED THE TIRE TO BE REPLACED. REPLACED TIRE WITH ANOTHER GOODYEAR ASSURANCE. WITH THIS NEW TIRE ON THE RR, I WAS ABLE TO LOCATE THE ROAD RUMBLE TO THE RIGHT FRONT, SO I HAD THAT TIRE REPLACED WITH ANOTHER GOODYEAR ASSURANCE. NOISE SEEMED TO GO AWAY. AS MY WIFE IS THE PRINCIPLE DRIVER OF THIS CAR, I THOUGHT THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN SOLVED WITH THE TWO NEW TIRES (AS ONE HAD BEEN FAILING). ON A 500 MILE TRIP, I NOTICED THAT THE ROAD NOISE (LOW RUMBLE DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH TIRE SPEED, ESPECIALLY AT LOW SPEEDS). I NOW REALIZE THAT THE ROAD NOISE MUST BE COMING FROM ONE/OR BOTH OF THE ORIGINAL TIRES THAT WERE PLACED ON THE CAR IN 2017. ON CLOSE INSPECTION OF THESE TWO TIRES, I HAVE NOTICED MULTIPLE AREAS OF A FINE SPLITTING APPROXIMATELY 1 INCH DOWN THE SIDE OF THE SIDE WALL ON BOTH OF THESE TIRES WHICH MAY BE INDICATIVE OF TREAD SEPARATION. I AM TO THE POINT WHERE I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE TAKING THIS CAR ON THE HIGHWAY. I HAVE ASKED THREE DIFFERENT DEALERS ABOUT THIS AND I GET MANY ASSORTED ANSWERS, BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THESE TIRES MAKE A RUMBLING NOISE DIRECTLY RELATED TO TIRE SPEED AND SHOW SIGNS OF SIDEWALL CRACKING. I DON'T WANT TO GET TO THE POINT OF AN ENDANGERING BLOWOUT AND AM CONSIDERING REPLACING ALL 4 TIRES IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS CAR IS DRIVEN MOSTLY ON LOCAL CITY STREET AND VERY INFREQUENTLY ON HIGHWAYS.