Why Do My Tires Sing?

Stuart Pearl

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Mar 31, 1993, 9:07:35 PM3/31/93

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I currently have a pair of Firestone FR480 tires on the front of my '78
Monte Carlo; the car has 104,000 and the tires about 20,000. My dilemma
is that I believe the tires "sing" or "hum" whenever I drive. This
sensation increases in pitch with speed.

Specifically I can both hear and feel a humming from the front end as I
accelerate. What I feel is a faint vibration in the steering wheel
which is the equivalent of driving over a litely gravelled road. I've
had the front end aligned and the tires balanced so that can be ruled
out. There is no wobble or pull to either side. I've jacked up the
front end and spun the wheels by hand and found nothing to be rubbing.

I friend suggested that maybe the power steering gear/pump(?) is
starting to go and this is its death keen. Anyone have a theory on
this? Thanks in advance.

-stu
--
---===<<< Stuart Pearl >>>===---
Cleveland, Ohio
ah...@cleveland.freenet.edu
--------------------

IC...@asuacad.bitnet

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Mar 31, 1993, 10:24:13 PM3/31/93

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Singing tires (if that's what is actually happening) can be caused by
not rotating them freqently enough. Tires having a "block" type tread
are especially prone to this (I know from personal experience with
Michelin X series). Apparently the leading edge of the block wears
faster, and after time you are riding mainly on the trailing edge of
the blocks. Hey..I saw a videotape of this effect...it must be true!

Please note I'm posting before midnight.
---
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Rick 'Open VMS 4ever' Colombo

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Mar 31, 1993, 10:45:08 PM3/31/93

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In article <1pdip7$l...@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, ah...@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Stuart Pearl) writes:
>
> I currently have a pair of Firestone FR480 tires on the front of my '78
> Monte Carlo; the car has 104,000 and the tires about 20,000. My dilemma
> is that I believe the tires "sing" or "hum" whenever I drive. This
> sensation increases in pitch with speed.
>
> Specifically I can both hear and feel a humming from the front end as I
> accelerate. What I feel is a faint vibration in the steering wheel
> which is the equivalent of driving over a litely gravelled road. I've
> had the front end aligned and the tires balanced so that can be ruled
> out. There is no wobble or pull to either side. I've jacked up the
> front end and spun the wheels by hand and found nothing to be rubbing.
>
> I friend suggested that maybe the power steering gear/pump(?) is
> starting to go and this is its death keen. Anyone have a theory on
> this? Thanks in advance.
>

I don't know these tires, but if you've ever heard a 4WD truck like
mine drive by you'd be happy your tires sing because mine growl. :-)

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Krish

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Apr 1, 1993, 12:32:49 PM4/1/93

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<IC...@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:

>Singing tires (if that's what is actually happening) can be caused by
>not rotating them freqently enough. Tires having a "block" type tread
>are especially prone to this (I know from personal experience with
>Michelin X series). Apparently the leading edge of the block wears
>faster, and after time you are riding mainly on the trailing edge of
>the blocks. Hey..I saw a videotape of this effect...it must be true!

I hear a humming sound that increases in pitch with vehicle speed
on my '85 mazda 626. My car has Michelin tires with 20,000 miles on
them. My mechanic says the wheel bearing needs to be replaced but I
am skeptical after seeing the above article.

Please post/email comments/suggestions.

Brian P. Minnebo

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Apr 1, 1993, 12:12:31 PM4/1/93

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In article <93090.20...@ASUACAD.BITNET> <IC...@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:
>Singing tires (if that's what is actually happening) can be caused by
>not rotating them freqently enough. Tires having a "block" type tread
>are especially prone to this (I know from personal experience with
>Michelin X series). Apparently the leading edge of the block wears
>faster, and after time you are riding mainly on the trailing edge of
>the blocks. Hey..I saw a videotape of this effect...it must be true!

Eagles GT's, gatorbacks, M+S, and BFGoodrich Euro TA's all do this. the
insid edge of tread gets a feathed look. Rotating helps, every 20 or
30 thousand mils I have them remounted on the wheels from the other side
of the car.

Once I got the feathered tread off the inside of the wheel the noise
went down, but the best thing is to rotate often enough to prevent it
in the first place.

Brian