NHTSA Complaint #11668503 — 2024 JEEP GLADIATOR

The vehicle is still new and has not been taken offroad other than a few boring unpaved roads. It has never hit any significant pothole. The tires still have the original OEM tire pressure, I have never removed or added air to them. At the time of the incident the tire pressure was 39psi and the temperature outside was about 80F. I was driving on the highway at about 75mph with cruise control. I started feeling a strange slight lateral instability then we heard a strong noise and we thought we had a helicopter on top of us or maybe that something else was loose in the car. As I was stopping in the shoulder it became clear that it was a tire problem as we saw pieces of tire flying off. Thankfully we were able to stop safely. Then it became clear what happened: the tire external sidewall just exploded with absolutely no reason. There was no pothole, no sudden braking or cornering. It just decided to explode. The car behaved very well given the gravity of the situation, but I lost trust in the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 245/75R17 tires that came with it. I'm no tire expert, but the broken tire sidewall construction seems very flimsy to me. This tire has no steel on the sidewall and it looks like the polyester threads is not appropriate and may even be missing in some areas. I took a large number of photos to what is left of the tire.