Tire noise

[OkieHick]

Anyone experience tire noise? I'm not talking the tire-road contact noise. I'm talking a "wah-wah-wah-wah" noise that's independent of the road surface and can really be heard on a smooth black road with windows up and radio off. I've had the tires rotated and balance checked....no re-balance needed...they were OK as is. The noise changed somewhat with the rotation but is still there.

The car is a 2012 with 18-inch Pirelli's and 17K miles. I had the same issue with one of my tires on my new 2006 Crown Vic Sport. I honestly thought that I had a bad bearing, but new tires eradicated the sound. It was explained to me that the steel belts in the tires can start working loose causing the sound. Makes sense i guess!...

 

[Bad Boss 302]

Sometimes you can damage the belt in a tire after you had a bad impact. That would be like hitting a deep pot hole or running over something. Sometimes that also results in a bulge on the side wall of the tire. I assume you have the Pirelli Nero all season tires. As the tread wears down a tire will generate more noise. Be sure your tire pressure is correct for all your tires. The Pirelli tires on my Boss are set for 35 psi. I have a little over 11k miles on mine and during a recent road trip I didn't notice any extra noise. Oh, by the way, have your tires been rotated?

Dave

 

[OkieHick]

Yep...tire rotation/balance #2. I'm anal about rotation/balance. Thanks for the info. Solution to the problem: turn the radio up and/or roll the windows down!

Speaking of tire pressure, I am surprised that the door casing recommendation is for only 32 psi. I would have thought 36. The tire shop doing the rot/bal aired them up to 35. I brought them back down to 32 like it states...

BTW there was a Boss like yours at my hotel last week. It was awesome! Ford did that car up right!!

 

[Bad Boss 302]

Yep...tire rotation/balance #2. I'm anal about rotation/balance. Thanks for the info. Solution to the problem: turn the radio up and/or roll the windows down!

Speaking of tire pressure, I am surprised that the door casing recommendation is for only 32 psi. I would have thought 36. The tire shop doing the rot/bal aired them up to 35. I brought them back down to 32 like it states...

BTW there was a Boss like yours at my hotel last week. It was awesome! Ford did that car up right!!

Yeah, Ford did a very nice job with the new Boss. But really, Ford did an excellent job with the GT and the V6. In fact, I think the new V6 out powers most of the GT's in history.
As for tire pressure, I always like to add a couple pounds of air if I'm going to do a lot of interstate driving. I usually check my tires at least once a week. These Pirelli tires are expensive but also one of the best tires I've ever driven on the street. I see a lot of guys doing massive burn outs with their stock Pirellis and all I can say is "wow, there goes about $50 worth of rubber down the drain."

 

[OracleHCR]

A little off subject, but do you guys use nitrogen in your tires? That was the first thing I did even before tinting the windows. It is a lot better for the tire in so many ways.

 

[mustangmike6996]

a balance issue wont normally cause a noise. there are a couple things that could tho.... a bent wheel is most likely. jack up the car and spin the wheel and tire. look at the bead of the wheel for a small amount of "tramp" (up and down movement) also look at the tire tread. make sure there isnt any belt shift. if you get your tires balance, have them check "road force variation" it uses a roller to press on the tire and it measures how "hard the tire presses back" to see it there are harder spots in the tire. they will then do a rim runout and find a low spot in the wheel, once this is established, they can O.E. match the tire. this will offset the high spot in the tire and the highspot in the rim to help minimize total runout. it will help you out. it is normally expensive though. like i said, make sure your wheels are not bent (inner and outer lips) and make sure your tire doesnt exhibit belt shift. OHH i forgot, make sure your tires are not cupped. if your front tires are cupped, rotate them. cross to the drive axle and bring the drive axle straight forward. like this LF to RR, RF to LR. RR to RF and LR to LF. this will help wear the cupping more evenly when the high point of the cup is "aimed to the rear of the car"