Tire Noise

jhblaze1

jhblaze1

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Wondering if anyone has any idea..

I have a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It has the stock tires with are fairly knobby. I'm getting this "pitter patter" sound coming from the tires. It's similar to when you get a rock stuck in the treads but rather than that clicking noise of the rock striking the pavement, it's a "softer" and more rubbery sound.

Looking at my front tires, I feel like they're wearing a bit faster than they should. I don't see any obvious scalloping or anything. Wondering if it's just time for a rotation and maybe alignment.
 
I'd start with the rotation and see what that gets you. Start with the cheap attempts at fixing the problem first then work your way up. FWIW I put new BF Goodrich K02s on my 2015 Tacoma off road last April and they are much more aggressive tread than the stock. This last November I started hearing more road noise than usual (not a pitter patter as you describe though just roaring noise). Looked a the fronts and they were just starting to show a little scalloping. rotated them at the next oil change and fixed it. Aggressive off road tires come with the disadvantage of uneven tread wear and noise. It is what it is.
 
jhblaze1 said:
Wondering if anyone has any idea..

I have a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It has the stock tires with are fairly knobby. I'm getting this "pitter patter" sound coming from the tires. It's similar to when you get a rock stuck in the treads but rather than that clicking noise of the rock striking the pavement, it's a "softer" and more rubbery sound.

Looking at my front tires, I feel like they're wearing a bit faster than they should. I don't see any obvious scalloping or anything. Wondering if it's just time for a rotation and maybe alignment.
Click to expand...

Did you adjust the tire pressure vs the summer/fall? If the tires are under-inflated weird stuff can happen. Every year I end up adjusting my tire pressure at least like 4 times depending on the weather we have.

-Mike
 
whacko said:
I'd start with the rotation and see what that gets you. Start with the cheap attempts at fixing the problem first then work your way up. FWIW I put new BF Goodrich K02s on my 2015 Tacoma off road last April and they are much more aggressive tread than the stock. This last November I started hearing more road noise than usual (not a pitter patter as you describe though just roaring noise). Looked a the fronts and they were just starting to show a little scalloping. rotated them at the next oil change and fixed it. Aggressive off road tires come with the disadvantage of uneven tread wear and noise. It is what it is.
Click to expand...


yeah I'm hoping that's all it is....figured I'd see if anyone knew something so I don't have a tire store try to sell me tires I don't need. I'm going to have them rotated this weekend and have the alignment checked at the same time. Hopefully that'll do it.
 
When was the last time they were rotated? I do the 5 tire rotation on my Wrangler every 5K miles. Hopefully correct tire pressure and a rotation take care of your problem.
 
They are basically mud tires. You can't fix it, saw it at the dealer all the time. Ride them with the noise and wear them out or buy less aggressive tires.
 
If you can "see" scalloping that would be ultra bad. Scalloping is felt with your hand, run it along the edge tread of the tire in both directions, should be smooth both ways. If you feel the "edges" then thats scalloping and could cause the noise.
 
Could be scalloped tire(s)? I had a Buick with no obvious scalloping in the tires. I was luck enough to know someone with another Buick, swapped tires with the another Buick and no noise. Put my tires on my friends Buick, he had the noise. I said thanks and floored it.
 
jhblaze1 said:
Wondering if anyone has any idea..

I have a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It has the stock tires with are fairly knobby. I'm getting this "pitter patter" sound coming from the tires. It's similar to when you get a rock stuck in the treads but rather than that clicking noise of the rock striking the pavement, it's a "softer" and more rubbery sound.

Looking at my front tires, I feel like they're wearing a bit faster than they should. I don't see any obvious scalloping or anything. Wondering if it's just time for a rotation and maybe alignment.
Click to expand...


Check for ice stuck inside the rims.....I park my car in the garage after a snowstorm and sometimes the snow half ass melts and leaves chunks of ice stuck to the rims. Throws off the balance of the tire like a bastard, and on the highway up to speed it sounds like a separated tire belt or something.

Also check for a separated tire belt, it can really make a loud thumping noise. Happened to me one time on a rear tire, I thought the wheel bearing was shxt, but then I changed the tires and it was good to go.

Other than that Jeeps are noisy as shxt.
 
jhblaze1 said:
they put decent tires on the rubicon models. They're not what I'd buy when replacing but they're not bad tires.
Click to expand...

The 32" BFG KM2's are top notch tires and are designed for offroad abuse and have a sturdy sidewall. They are a very good tire more capable than most but I changed to the Cooper STT Pro's when I upsized mine to metric 34's and yes I have a Rubicon. Coopers are some of the best American made tires you can buy and the pro's I have are top rated with very little road noise.
 
My F350 and your Jeep both have live axles and are rough on tires. Rotate every oil change, keep the pressure right and get an alignment if any strange tire wear.
 

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