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Tire Problem

Good Evening All,

I have a tire question. I have a 2000 EB 5L AWD. The vehicle has 55,000 miles on it. I have been noticing a low growling noise for the last couple of months. I was changing the oil today and I noticed that the tire tread on both front tires, inside tread, has a "cupped" look to it. You can feel the dips in the tread. The remainder of the tread on both tires the rest of the way across to the outside looks and feels smooth.

This sounds like maybe a shock/strut issue. Not sure.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Brad

"When I die I want to go quietly like my grandfather, not screaming like his passengers."

Reply to
Brad Penn
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I forgot to mention, if it's important. The tires on the Explorer are Goodyear Wrangler RT/S, P255/70 R16's. They have about 7,000 miles on them.

Thanks.

Brad

"When I die I want to go quietly like my grandfather, not screaming like his passengers."

Reply to
Brad Penn

I'm not a big fan of Goodyear tires and have a few of my own issues with them from a professional standpoint. I assume that the tires haven't been rotated nor aligned?

If the tires are indeed salvageable at this point, I would recommend a rotate and balance with an alignment check (correcting any anomallies, naturally). If yours has active suspension (air levelling), be sure that the alignment realizes they need to set the vehicle to "trim height" to align it.

Having the tires rotated once per year will usually ensure that you will reap the maximum mileage from the tires. Personal preference is for Michelin LTX - this is me and my safety and comfort.... price is not a feature... also had very good luck with Bridgestone and Hankook (the Z46 is a good, all round 4X4 tire).

HTH

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Reply to
Jim Warman

I realize my '94 had a totally different front suspension, but I'll echo Jim's views. Having worked in a tire shop and done alignments, I still rotated & balanced the Wranglers I had every 5000 miles or else they would cup the edges (along with being noisy.) I switched to the LTX-MS's and never looked back. Much quieter, better in the rain, longer lasting, and a lot smoother ride.

Mike ex-'94 XLT

Reply to
Mike

Jim,

Thanks for the response. I think the tires are salvageable. I bought the vehicle about 14 months ago used. The tires were new when I bought the car. I should have had the alignment checked at that time. Oh well, live and learn. I plan to get an alignment and rotation this week.

Thanks again.

Reply to
Brad Penn

Hi Mike,

I sure wished I had known about these Wranglers earlier. There noisy and do ride rough. I have read good things from time to time in this group about the Michelin LTX series tire. I'll have to give them some serious consideration.

Thanks for the info.

Reply to
Brad Penn

Reply to
John Shoemaker

I just had the same cupped tire/growling experience with my 97.

Needed caster/camber kit and alignment at the dealer. Couple hundred bucks. Also replaced all four tires. Feels like new again,

Walt

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Brad Penn wrote:

Reply to
Walt Boeninger

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