Tire Noise/Vibration after rotation: Fix?

[Phishin]

Saturday night I got my car back from the mechanic (Nissan Altima). I love my mechanic. New radiator, hoses, and water pump installed....with tire rotation, for $400.

I thought that was a good deal.

Anyways, since I've gotten it back, there is an increase in road noise and a slight vibration when going at a higher rate of speed, say over 40mph. My girl has real bad rheumatoid arthritis, and so I have to keep this car as smooth as possible.

I read online, and noise/vibration after rotation appears to be fairly common. Is there a fix for this, besides swapping the tires back? I'm not sure if he "X'ed" them or just moved front to back.

These are Altimax tires, they had about 35k on them before they got rotated. The front had about 40% left, the rears about 60%, so I had him rotate them. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Rand]

Saying you have altimax tires is like saying

I bought ford car. There are many different ones..

which model of general altimax do you have?

are they directional, or asymmetric?


without that info generally speaking

they are either worn irregularly, causing the vibration.. which may or may not improve with time(and miles)

they may be out of balance, out of round,uniformity etc
or a rim could be bent

a roadforce balance would tell you this and/or minimize it.

However thats usually around 80-100$ for 4 tires.

try running your bare hands over the tires
the inside tread outside tread and middle..

if you feel wear chances are you cant do much about it besides live with it or get new tires.

by live with it.. it may get better it may not. It shouldnt get much worse. More frequent rotations in the future should minimize vibration.

If you purchase replacement tires I recommend non directional tires so they can be rotated fully and perhaps not develop irregular wear.

that being said if the tires only have 40% tread left maybe you should just purchase new ones come snow time.

Starting out with fresh tires and a roadforce balance really maximizes your chance of being happy/fully satisfied with your tires.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I'm guessing one or both of your (former) rear tires are out of balance or your rims are slightly bent. Sometimes you don't feel it until the wheels are put on the front. That would be the first thing to have the shop look at. Also inspect for any uneven wear/cupping that may indicate suspension or alignment problems.

Other then that, if it was my car, I would have just kept the tires with more tread on the back of the car for safety. I'd let the fronts wear out some more, then throw the used rears on the front and buy 2 new tires for the rear.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I'm guessing one or both of your (former) rear tires are out of balance or your rims are slightly bent. Sometimes you don't feel it until the wheels are put on the front. That would be the first thing to have the shop look at. Also inspect for any uneven wear/cupping that may indicate suspension or alignment problems.

Other then that, if it was my car, I would have just kept the tires with more tread on the back of the car for safety. I'd let the fronts wear out some more, then throw the used rears on the front and buy 2 new tires for the rear.


I guess I learned my lesson. This my first FWD car. Should have kept them where they are at and run the front till near bald, and replace all 4. Ooops.

I was hoping there would be a way to fix it.

The vibration isn't that bad. The noise isn't that bad either. She just drives the car around town. I drive it on the freeway to save gas vs. the truck. She shouldn't experience much problems. But at the same time, it was whisper quiet on the road.

I don't think the rim is bent. I think it's uneven wear.

I'll check tonight and see what kind of Altimax's I got.

 

[eljefino]

It's a common tire store thing to put the most problem children of four new tires on the rear where you won't feel them. Some tires just don't balance, they're off half an ounce when you check them. You end up "chasing weights" and doing a simple static balance instead. Or if one notices a bent rim or an egg shaped tire on the balancer they stick it on the rear.

These are now front and center.

 

[Nyquist]

The noise is likely because your tires are cupped if all else is correct and they are now being run backwards from what they were before. That will go away with some driving.

If they are out of balance you'll have to have them re-balanced.

 

[Phishin]

I have General Altimax.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Altimax+g...amp;bih=295#i=3

Do you think a tread pattern like this is highly susceptible to this problem? Like I said, its mostly just road noise....but [censored] its irritating!!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Your link doesn't work for me. Is it Altimax HP or RT? The HP has a directional tread pattern which can sometimes become more noisy, especially if someone cross-rotated them, but I'm assuming no tire shop would be that stupid.

 

[Phishin]

They are the RT's.

 

[mechtech2]

If there was no vibration felt before, and there isnow, the rotation is to blame.
Bad tires on the front are more noticeable.
The tire or rim may be faulty. Maybe even a balance problem.