Cupped Tires

[danawd]

Hi All, I'm new here. Hope someone can help. I bought '03 AWD with 120,000 km on it, when I took it for a test drive the right rear tire was noticibly noisey, as in road noise. The dealer said the tires were worn and so he put a set of "fresh" used tires on it. That seemed to fix the problem - for about 7,000 km . Now the noise is back & coming from the right rear tire again. Even at slow speeds it's sounds like a cement truck is following me! And it's driving me nuts! I've come to the conclusion that I must have a cupped tire and that something is wrong with my right rear suspension. The car handles great with no noticable suspension problems. What is the best way to get this checked out without spending money on guessing my way through it? Thanks! Dan

[Mavrik]

I would wonder if they checked the alignment after installing that set of used tires? There could be something out of place thats causing them to cup. I'd also check and make sure the bearing wasn't making noise. If it has play, it can wear out a tire as well.

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »I would wonder if they checked the alignment after installing that set of used tires? There could be something out of place thats causing them to cup. I'd also check and make sure the bearing wasn't making noise. If it has play, it can wear out a tire as well.I agree, being an '03 and AWD, I'd get a full front/rear alignment to make sure everything is in spec. Sounds like something is out of whack causing abnormal wear back there.What type of tires are you running currently?

[danawd]

I'm running Goodyear Eagle LS. As I stated they were lightly used tires when put on and I doubt they were balanced or aligned.. This noise (loud harmonic howl that sounds like the noise of your tires on pavement when crossing a bridge) was there on the test drive, went away after the new set of tires, came back after about 7,000 km to the same rear tire. The car dosen't exibit andy weird handling or steering problems. Maybe a little bit of vibration on the steering wheel around 70 mph which seems like out of balance tires. Would a bad bearing sound come and go?Do you have to replace cupped tires? What is a really good and quiet all season brand of tires for a Vibe?

[Mavrik]

Well depending on how badly they are cupped sometimes a tire rotation can wear them back in again. However a tire being out of balance and on the rear is harder to detect then if its on the front. I'd get the alignment checked and rebalance all the tires, maybe rotate them as well.