tire (or what?) noise

I've never had a tire make a sound like huge birds' wings, though many's the time a tire made me envision little birds' wings sprouting from tens and twenties as they fly out of my wallet!

Is there a vibration or pull associated with it?

When you rotate the tires does it move? That's a classic way of narrowing it down to a tire (the cause of much grief) or something else.

I'm thinking that some aerodynamic appurtenance has come loose, like a bit of fascia (the other day I was next to an Isuzu Trooper at a stop light and the buzzing of this cosmetic metal strip under its grille was audible in my car -- and visible once my ears had localized the noise) or the thingus that directs air from underneath up toward the radiator. Just put on old clothes and safety glasses and go underneath, pushing and pulling on this and that -- maybe you'll find something. Don't neglect the wheelwell, as many vehicles have one or more large holes covered with pieces of stiff plastic or rubber down there.

Cheers,

--Joe

; I went to NTB (tire/battery place) and the guy at the counter (who may or may not know anything) ran his hand across all my tires and said the 2 front ones are cupped and said its definitely causing the noise. I suggested I should rotate the tires (since It's been more than 12k miles by now) and he said don't bother....it won't help. Sounds like he's right about cupping, but not sure if i should rotate.

He also pointed out that ONE of my tires (rear) has some cracks (that he called "separating") just about where the "white wall" is. He said it wouldn't pass inspection (which is due soon).

The tread on all the tires is OK, but I'm wondering if I'm due for 4 new tires ?? They at 33000 miles, but are 5 year old. (Is age relevant, or just miles)? He suggested, of course, that i get all new tires, but he's a salesman too, so ...not sure.

Some wisdom on tire cupping:

I personally think rebalancing and rotating just to see if the big bird flapping noise goes away or travels to a different corner is worth doing, though if they're badly cupped they might not stay in really good balance long.

As for whether you need new tires, yes, age can be relevant, though I don't think 5 years is necessarily all that terrible... but the real thing is, what kind of shape are they in, and how much tread is left?

Those superficial spiderwebby cracks on the sidewall occur as a tire gets old and exposed to weather. (Don't confuse them with a TREAD separation, a much different and bad thing internal to the tire.) I'm not sure how bad they actually are but they always inspire me to advance new tires for that vehicle up the list of household maintenance/spending priorities.

Of course, you'll also want to correct the reason why they're cupping. Shocks/struts are a classic though worn or loose parts elsewhere in the front suspension can do the deed.

Cheers,

--Joe