tire question

May 16, 2005 3 Replies
S

I noticed noise coming from my tires recently. Mechanic said the tires are 'cupping', probably due to bad shocks. The tires are Michlen XC LT4. They were put on at 18000 miles (Firestone recall) and the car now has 65500 miles.



I have replaced the shocks with sensatracs. I also had front end aligned because the tires showed some wear on the edges.



I have noticed this same type of noise coming from other vehicles on the road.



I don't do any towing, just occasional boat launching.



Are the tires still safe? They still have fairly good tread and overall I am satisfied with the tires. But I still get tire noise on the road.



What, exactly, cause tires to 'cup'?



Thanks


2000 Limited
65500 miles
5.0 V8, most all power

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H

Are they safe? Depends how deeply they are cupped. Regardless how much tread is left, the tire is no better than the thinnest part of the tread. Cupping is caused by bad shocks, unbalanced tire assemblys and even incorrect tire pressures. Unfortunately, once they start to cup, they will continue that pattern even after you fix the problem. I'd start saving for new tires. H

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E

Also, by my calculations, you've put almost 48,000 miles on that set of tires. Pretty good service for an SUV. In my experience, the tires look like they have "pretty good tread" until you get a look at a new set. With the cupping, they're going to be noisy. Only solution is to replace, with concurrent check of shocks and alignment. Then monitor tire pressures and alignment and rotate the tires regularly to avoid a repeat.

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