Repetitive noise coming from relatively new tire on Ford Escape

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hello again,

While driving down a multiple lane expressway I noticed a repetitive “whump, whump, whump, whump” that would speed up or slow down with the car. The car is a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid “All Wheel Drive” with 80,000 miles on it. The tires, Cooper CTS 235 70 R15’s, are pretty new, they were installed at 70,000 miles and have been rotated at 76,500. The noise is not very loud but noticable by myself and passengers. About 4 years ago one of the OEM Michelins developed an abnormal wear pattern that caused this noise. The vehicle had a 4 wheel alignment along with the rotation at 76,500. No reason to believe it was “knocked” out of alignment since then. Any thoughts as to what is causing this noise and what we should to to remedy it? Thanks!

2

A “whump, whump, whump” sound is a likely indicator of a defective tire, and alignment would have nothing to do with this. A visit to your tire dealer might be a good idea.

3

I believe the sound is coming from the left rear tire. I am not sure if I should rotate the tires (I would prefer not to as we just had them rotated) to see if the sound will move. I am guessing that if I were to go into the tire dealer they would want me to rule out the car as the cause. I do know that one of the Michelins developed flat spots on the tire causing the same sound I am hearing now (happened around 30,000 miles, still ran them until the wear bars were almost visable).