I have a 2002 Ford Escape and I recently purchased new tires BFgoodrich TAs and I have a noise from 30mph to 60mph very pronounced. Is it the tires?
Hard to say from here. Your old tyres may have been worn down so they may have been quieter when you took them off than when they were first put on. It is possible the new tyres are defective, but I doubt it. It is possible the tread design is just noisier. Was anything else changed? Were all four tyres changed? If not were the old tyres rotated?
Edit: As new tyres wear they sometimes become less noisy or more noisy.
Tread design has a lot to do with tire noise. Years ago, I purchased a set of Atlas tires from a Standard Oil station where I traded for the rear wheels of my Rambler. These Atlas tires almost sounded as though I had a problem with the ring and pinion gear in the differential between 30 and 50 miles per hour. The tires were louder on wet pavement. I just lived with the noise and the tires really wore very well.
It depends on the tire, generally the more aggressive the tread, the noisier the tire. A street tire like the Radial TA is going to be quieter than the Off-Road TA. If the noise changes when the steering wheel is turned off-center (i.e. changing lanes), it might be the front wheel bearings. The wheel bearings on my Blazer started making noise after the tires were replaced. I thought it was the new tires for a long time.
Ed B.