I recently rotated my tires and began noticing a lot of road noise when I began driving the car. I took it to National Tire and Battery where I bought the tires and the gentleman walked around and felt all the tires with his hand. He then told me the front left tire had a ripple in its surface as a result of my car’s rear suspension and said it’d need to be replaced. I just bought the tire less than a year ago and they’re expensive! Is he just being a salesperson or is this problem really remedied only by replacing the tire?
Is it a sidewall bulge? Yes, you’d be better off replacing it, but NO, it has nothing to do with you car’s reas suspension. Pure BS. Does the tire have a warranty? This is a manufacturing defect.
The surface of the tire (the part that rides on the road) has a ripple that causes a wah wah wah sound. I don’t know if the tire has a warranty - it should. I’d have to check the sales paperwork.
Cupping can be caused by a bad suspension.
Never been impressed with NTB. I don’t like places where the mechanics work on commission. It’s amazing how many parts they find on a car that need to be replaced when they work on commission.
We need to know where this ripple is, and what it looks like.
Sidewall cord separation that causes visible sidewall ripples usually causes no symptoms and the tire manufacturer usually won’t replace the tire on warranty unless you can demonstrate symptoms.
A ripple in the tread due to wear would be a rear suspension problem that means that you need, at a minimum, new rear shocks. In that case, I would fix the suspension and put the tire back on the rear to get some more wear out of the tire before replacing it.
A ripple in the tread due to belt separation is a manufacturer defect or road hazard damage that should be warrantied.
A bulge in the tread or sidwall that indicates air between the layers of tire would not be the fault of suspension, might be due to manufacturing defect or road damage, but should be replaced immediately.
What you have is irregular wear, which is caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient rotation practices.
Irregular wear will cause noise and / or vibrations (same thing, just different frequencies)
First, get an alignment. Next, make sure you check your tire pressures regularly and rotate your tires every 5,000 to 8,000 miles.
BTW, irregular wear is NOT covered by the tire warranty because it is caused by vehicle misalignment.
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My car has 235K miles on it and the rear shocks are shot. I assumed that the front tires wear faster. Since I buy my tires in pairs because I normally don’t have > $400 sitting around I put the oldest tires on the rear and move the newer ones to the front. I guess, since it appears it was caused by my rear suspension, that there’s not much I can do except to put up with the noise. Thank you for the feedback.
That sounds like cupping…and it can be caused by a worn suspension system.
OK, you’re on the hook because the rear shocks are shot - they will cause abnormal wear.
I put the oldest tires on the rear and move the newer ones to the front.
Wrong. The tires with the best tread (best traction) should go on the rear, to minimize the chances of the back end breaking loose in a skid.
Forget the warranty, it’s not a faulty tire. It could be the cars suspension OR it could be caused by ramming the tire into a parking block. It could also be caused by hitting a large pothole or some sort of other trauma the tire sustained. Please remember that just because a saleman, technician, etc. gives you an answer you did not want to hear does not make that person the steroetyped “bad salesman”.
is this problem really remedied only by replacing the tire?
The road noise will go away by replacing the tire but the problem will not be fixed until any suspension problems or driving habits are corrected.
I bought a brand new 2014 Honda Accord. Brought it in after 5000 miles tonhave tires rotated. When I drove off, I heard the “wah wah wah” sound you all mention. So I carried it back and they balanced the tires again. Still no change. So I carried it back and they put a new set of BF Goodrich tires which were the same as the factory tires. Sound went away. But returned when I brought those tires back after 5K miles for rotation. When I did, the service manager asked me if I had been hauling heavy loads like a boat or something?? I asked him “With a Honda Accord???” He said that there is a problem with the rear end because those tires were cupping. They checked all the suspension and struts and all were fine (I didn’t get a 2nd opinion, although my neighbor which is a Ford mechanic said that bad rear suspension would cause cupping). So after another set of Goodrich tires, at 17K miles, they put a set of Michelin tires on the car. We didn’t have the problem after that for 50K miles, perhaps the quality of the tires kept it hidden. I put a new set of Kumho tires on it about 3 months ago and today a I took it to the shop to have them rotated and the rear tires have ripples or signs of cupping. So if I were betting, the rear suspension is the issue
Yup but anyway after ten years, those tires need to be replaced anyway so problem solved.