Six problems related to tire have been reported for the 2002 Dodge Dakota. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Michelin latitude tires p265/70 r17 bought sept. 2011 from costco in inglewood calif. The tread surface is peeling from the tire. There are small crater like areas where the tread has crumbled away. The latitude tire was advertised as; "latitude tour tires use a silica-based tread compound molded into a symmetric tread design". I went to costco to see if they would warranty the tire. At first they told me the deterioration of the tire thread was due to the surface that I drove on. After I assured the costco service tech that I drive on the streets and highway, not off road, he said he would only prorate the tire value based on the thread use. That turned out to be 50 percent of on a new set of tires.
The left rear original goodyear wrangler rt/s p265/70r16 tire on my 2002 Dodge Dakota 4wd pick-up truck has belt separation. The truck has only 17,685 miles on it. The truck is used throughout the year primarily as a spare vehicle when the car is being used. I was unable to locate the dot number.
Goodyear fortera tire issue - I have a set of 265-70-17 goodyear fortera silentarmor tires on a 2002 Dodge ram quad cab 1500 4x4. Bad vibration at highway speeds. I think that their is a design problem with these tires. I have spent several days at various tire dealers and have gone through 2 1/2 sets of tires in an attempt to correct the problem. The tires require an excessive amount of weight to balance. Even with all that weight the vibration is still present. There must be a design flaw or poor quality control during manufacture. I put a about 3000 miles on first set of tires and I now have about 500 miles on the current set. I hope this problem does not turn into a safety issue and the tires end up coming apart on the highway. I see only good reviews for the fortera silentarmor on the fortera website so I doubt that goodyear is posting any negative press. . . I have also made an attempt to post my comments on the goodyear website to make them aware of the issue.
When turning left the passengers side tire produced a thumping noise. Consumer was concerned that the tire will separate from the rim.
Ongoing vibration in rear axle at highway speeds. Dodge has rotated and rebalanced original tires, had goodyear replace all 4 tires with new tires 3 times, has sent the truck to big-o for road force balancing 3 times, has rebalanced original driveshaft and then replaced the driveshaft with a new one all to no avail. Has been in for repairs 14 times so far. The final time goodyear replaced the tires, their store manager performed his own test for vibration. He mounted and balanced the new tires and then put the truck into the air on a hydraulic lift taking it up to highway speed. He noted the vibration, then removed the tires from the wheels, still noted the vibration and then removed the wheels from the axle and still noted the vibration. This was noted to both repair dealers, also to no avail.
Rt rear tire exploded at highway speed of 65 mph, dealer in lakewood NJ said it was caused by puncture in tread, I disagree but can not proof otherwise.