Replace tires due to howling?

[Quattro Pete]

Right now I've got 20k miles on my Dunlop SP Maxx tires. There is enough tread to probably go another 5-10k miles before they reach legal wear limit, but they howl very annoyingly. I'm embarassed whenever I have passgengers on board. But even when I drive alone, I can't hear the engine at times.

Have any of you replaced otherwise good tires due to noise? I feel like a wuss for doing that. New tires are about $170 a pop.

 

[Barkleymut]

it would take much more than howling to get me to replace 600 dollars worth of tires, if they are still safe ride em till they don't pass inspection

 

[03cvpi]

I would run them until they are not legal and if anyone complains, tell them they are high traction high performace tires and they are just noisey.

And if they still compalin, kick them to the curb and drive on.

 

[CapriRacer]

What's probably going on here is that you have irregular wear and that's caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient rotation practices.

First step is to rotate the tires. The apparent location of the noise should move. If it doesn't, then the problem isn't the tires.

If it does move, get an alignment - it's probably toe that is causing the irregular wear.

 

[rshaw125]

I had one that was really out of balance.And another that had a bad wear pattern. When the tires were rotated the noise would move. I had the one balanced and they stayed on the back until they wore out.
10 months later 4 new tires at Costco and an alignment by my usual mechanic. All the noise disappeared.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
What's probably going on here is that you have irregular wear and that's caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient rotation practices.

Despite BMW recommending against rotation, I did rotate them occasionally. The wear pattern is even (according to visual inspection). If anything, the centers of the tread are worn out slightly more than sides, but I am already running the lowest PSI that the car manufacturer recommends, so I don't know what else I can do about that.

The one tire that is making the most noise is the one that caught a nail and that was patched from the inside a while ago. I don't see how this would contribute to noise, but maybe it does?

Quote:

First step is to rotate the tires. The apparent location of the noise should move. If it doesn't, then the problem isn't the tires.

I did a little experiment a little while back. I replaced that one tire that I mentioned with a spare. The noise significantly diminished.

Quote:

If it does move, get an alignment - it's probably toe that is causing the irregular wear.

I will definitely get an alignment when I put on a new set of rubber.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Also, just to give you some more information, the noise I'm hearing is not a constant hum, but rather a wah, wah, wah... type of oscilating noise. The frequency seems to coincide with the tire rotation speed, ie. one 'wah' per rotation. This is basically only heard at lower speeds. Once I'm on the hwy, I guess the tires rotate so fast, that the noise is no longer that noticeable. Unfortunately, most of my driving is around town at low speeds, so I do get to hear it quite a bit.

 

[Throckmorton]

It could be a bad wheel bearing. Try rotating the tires and see if the howling sound moves from one end of the car to another. If not, I suspect it may be the wheel bearing.

 

[Quattro Pete]

As I mentioned, replacing a tire with a spare causes the noise to diminish, so I don't think it's a wheel bearing. Besides, typically a bad wheel bearing makes different noise when you make a sharp turn. In my case, there is no difference. But I will have it check out just in case next time I'm in the shop.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

The set of Dunlops that were OEM on my Civic had an annoying humming/buzzing noise. Replaced them at 29k due to wear and the buzzing disappeared. At first I thought it was something in the car. Glad that it was just the tires. The noise was really bugging me.

 

[RacerE7773]

I love the Douglas junk from Wmart. I did the X pattern rotate and besides noise they now are egg-shaped. Finances force me to deal with them for right now, but will replace as soon as I can. There's no way I'll take them in to get replaced under warranty because the difference I could just buy two new ones and I don't want to buy tires from Wmart or Sears either for that matter.

 

[berniedd]

I had a similar problem,same noise pattern. The tire was no longer round but slightly ovoid. That was easy to see once I had it mounted on the tire balancer. I just had it balanced and then returned to service. Like you, I just didn't like the idea of throwing away a useable tire. I just hope this won't wear out my front bearings prematurely.

 

[alreadygone]

Are you sure this condition is constant,,,doesn't get louder in sync with the full moon?

seriously, if it's a size that ANYBODY else can use, change 'em out and list on Craigs List or local "shopper" paper and sell while they still have some worth, instead of paying to dispose of them in the future.

Something else to consider, new tires are going up in leaps and bounds!! With no end in sight, the added time of use you get out of noisy rags you are unhappy with may well cost you 10-20% in new tire cost in a very short time period.

Bob
11

 

[RacerE7773]

I believe it.