NHTSA Complaint #11438581 — 2019 RAM 3500

Tire is Nexen Roadian AT Pro LT235/80R17 Load Range E. Original Factory installed tires on 2019 Ram 3500 with dual rear wheels. Purchased the truck new in June 2020. All 6 tires on the truck are identical and had approximately 14,000 miles on them when the driver's side front tire failed. The tires were recently rotated approximately 3-4 weeks prior to failure. The tire that failed was previously located on the Passenger Side Front prior to rotation. I began noticing vibration in the steering wheel at speeds approximately 40-45 mph and higher. I monitored this vibration for a few days in various driving conditions in an attempt to diagnose the problem and noticed that the vibration increased with vehicle speed. Soon, the problem became worse and the entire vehicle began vibrating. The last day of the evaluation period I was towing a Tandem Axle 16ft open Car Trailer with an SUV loaded on the trailer at speeds as high as 75 mph on the interstate. The next day I took the truck to the local dealer who informed me that the steel belt had separated on the inside of the tire and would require replacement. After conducting research on tire separation, I discovered the serious safety concern where the tire could have blown out which would have surely caused a serious accident. I also discovered that this separation failure is very common with this same combination of Nexen Tires on Heavy Duty Ram Pickup Trucks. I had the spare tire mounted until an identical replacement tire was delivered to the dealer for install. I paid $282.42 out of pocket for the tire replacement and after arguing with the dealer, they filed a warranty claim with Nexen. Weeks later I was informed that they have offered to reimburse approximately $113, but to date I have not received any funds and I still have 6 Nexen of these Nexen tires on my truck plus the spare.