I have 10,000 miles on kumho solus KH16 tires. They are so noisy I don’t like driving my car, almost unbearable. Is this common or could there be something wrong with the tires? Had them rebalanced and rotated…to no avail.
What pressure are you running the tires at?
Tester
When they were rebalanced, the tire shop should have told you if there were any cupping or tread separation issues. Where they noisy when they were brand new?
Have tried 32 to 35…no significant difference. This just started about 3 weeks ago.
Brand new I could hear minimal road noise, now it is excessive. The tire shop owner mentioned that cupping could cause noise, then said mechanics would have noted cupping if it were there???
Have you had them balanced at least once before the 10K mile mark? Are the struts still good? Each corner should stop bouncing in one rebound after you bounce them three or more times. Bad struts will cause cupping.
The shop owner implied that there was no cupping or the mechanics would have said there was. I had not had them balanced since they were originally mounted. Just looked at tires and bounced the car…struts are fine, no cupping on tires.
Is it possible that something else is causing the noise? Is it common for tires to start making noise or, at least, not uncommon???
Its been my impression hearing from others that these newer tires are somewhat noisier than earlier. Also,many tires get noisier as they rack up mileage.
Probably not much help to you,but just my input.
My experience with inexpensive 2nd-3rd tier tires is they all start quiet but they fall off dramatically as the miles pile on.
Bridgesone engineers there tires to stay quiet throughout their life. Many Michelin tire also do. However you pay a premium for them but its worth it to me.
The unfortunately thing is tires never quiet down once noisy. It only gets worse.
“Brand new I could hear minimal road noise, now it is excessive. The tire shop owner mentioned that cupping could cause noise, then said mechanics would have noted cupping if it were there???”
In all likelihood, you have developed irregular wear (what the mechanic says was cupping), and this is usually caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient rotation preactice and insufficient inflation pressure maintenance. The first symptom you get is noise, followed later by vibration (depending on how sensitive you and your car are) and then you’ll see the wear pattern.
Try rotating your tires and see if the noise changes. If it does, get an alignment and hope the new positions will get rid of the wear pattern that is already there.
Tire rack customers report decent noise performance with these tires. Tire Rack also tested them against 3 competitors and noise performance was good there, too. How old is your Accord, and how many miles are on it? Poor alignment only 10,000 miles after the last alignment (when you bought the tires) might indicate worn suspension components.
Accord has 150,000 miles. Was not aligned when I had the tires installed, 2 years ago. May be the lower quality tires. I didn’t like the noise level when I first put them on but was tolerable, didn’t expect it to get worse.
Alignment would be next least expensive test to try. I suppose if alignment doesn’t change the noise level the remaining remedy is new tires.
It could be a wheel bearing.
Almost all tire noise problems are caused by the tread pattern. Not much you can do besides replacing the tires…I suggest you live with it until the tires are worn then you can replace them.
Kumho Solus KH16 tires are high quality tires. I suspect alignment issues and worn suspension parts. Get the suspension checked by a mechanic you trust. Don’t get the alignment done until you get the suspension fixed (if it needs it).