Tyre noise

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rudes07
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Tyre noise

Post by rudes07 »

Hi

So, I took my car to an Audi dealership yesterday for noise coming from the left back wheel. I suspected it might be wheel bearings but they said that it wasn't. They said I have flat spots on the tyre (Whatever that means?). Anyways, they rotated the tyres and now this wheel is sitting on the front of the car. The guy at Audi told me that they over inflated the tyres slightly so that the flat spots would wear out or something along that line.

The sound has moved to the front of the car, so it probably is the tyres but it's amplified now and sounding scary. It's making a kind of a rubbing noise now, especially under braking and when riding at low speeds.

I'm going to take it to a tyre place today but I'm curious to know if someone else has had a similar issue or if anyone has an idea of what the problem might be?
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by panic-mechanic »

Tyre wear like that is most commonly caused by
1) faulty / bad shock absorber
2) incorrect wheel alignment
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by Neuk »

panic-mechanic wrote:Tyre wear like that is most commonly caused by
1) faulty / bad shock absorber
2) incorrect wheel alignment
Sawtooth wear? I had it on my 9n Polo, my B6 A4 and both my brothers have had in on their 9n Polo's.
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The Shaikh
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by The Shaikh »

Is it flat spots or thread separation? I had the same problem you just described but it was called thread separation and caused by over inflation. My tires were inflated to 2.8 instead of 2.1. I also thought it was bearings swapped the tires and it went away. Eventually just changed all four tires just to be safe and the problem is gone.
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by The Shaikh »

That is what two of them looked like

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by rudes07 »

Thanks for the replies gents

Damn!
The Shaikh wrote:That is what two of them looked like

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by Docharding »

It's also caused from lack of rotation, you are meant to rotate your tyres every 10 000km.

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by Docharding »

The separation in those tyres can be caused by a few things but the main reasons 9 times out of 10 is pot holes and or using those shitty rope plugs when you get a puncture. The other 1 out of 10 is the quality of the tyre

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by panic-mechanic »

I have driven lots of sets of tyres from new till no tread without any rotation. Saying lack of rotation cause separation is just pure drivel.
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by Ashveer03 »

I also dont rotate tyres or see the reason to do it other than replacing 4 tyres at a time..

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by NHB_R »

So searching on flat spots in tyres and i came across this thread.
I hit brakes hard on my Corsa Utility a few weeks back and the wheels locked up.
Since then been having this thump sound when driving the car, can literally just slightly feel it on smooth roads.
Turns out i got a flat spot which i assume is attributed to that hard brake i had.

Just wanna find out from the internet experts - can i drive the car as is till the tyres wear out and then replace or am i hurting my shocks on the car or anything else?

FYI - It was a dunlop
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Re: Tyre noise

Post by Docharding »

NHB_R wrote:So searching on flat spots in tyres and i came across this thread.
I hit brakes hard on my Corsa Utility a few weeks back and the wheels locked up.
Since then been having this thump sound when driving the car, can literally just slightly feel it on smooth roads.
Turns out i got a flat spot which i assume is attributed to that hard brake i had.

Just wanna find out from the internet experts - can i drive the car as is till the tyres wear out and then replace or am i hurting my shocks on the car or anything else?

FYI - It was a dunlop
I would change them as that flat spot will end up going through to canvas fast, you will also have vibrations at certain speeds.

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Re: Tyre noise

Post by panic-mechanic »

The only way to get rid of that flat spot would be to have the rest of the tyre shaved down to the same level. That can only be done if there is a fair amout of tread left and will of course shorten the life of the tyre.
It might be bad for the shock the live with that but it will be hard to quantify.
Generally better to just bite the bullet and change them. Next time don't lock it up that badly. Back off and re-apply the brake. Read up on cadence braking. Of course that is also exactly why ABS exists now.
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