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Loud Tire Noise only at 50-60 MPH. Why?


Patrick
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I have alot of noise coming from the front tires/wheels that only happens at 50-60 MPH. It sonds like I am driving with tire chains on. But at all other speeds they are relatively quiet. The alignment is perfect, no pulling to either side. I had my wheel bearings changed last year. Any guesses? Thanks.

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Pat, check your tires for cupping or chipping. If you're running around on 143k+ shockers your tires are dribbling down the road like basketballs on sticks. I know mine were, at 144k+ miles on my shocks. LOL. Check the tire balance as well sometime the tire monkeys don't get the weights on good and they come off and can contribute to the same symptions your describing.

 

JMO

 

Mike

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It could just be your tire tread design. Check what people say about the tires at your local tire shop and online at sites like www.tires.com and www.tirerack.com

Are the tires MT AT or HT?

Like has been said, check the wheel balance as that's cheap. If not, who knows, maybe they reach some sort of resonant requency (correct term?) where they have the right hum or vibration on your Pathy at that speed to make noise.

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Guest md80man

Feel the hubs after you drive it. do they get hot?

I had a similar problem on my 87, it was the auto hubs.

You have 2 rings in there, they are called "cups" I believe,

cup A and cup B fits together, and if your grease is dirty

(like mine was) the cups may not separate when you go back to

2wd. They have ridges that stay partially together and make a groaning

noise . on mine it happened around 40 mph. Anyway, I removed the

hubs and sprayed them clean with a degreaser, then filled them up with

new grease. I drove it for 10,000 miles since, and never heard another sound

from them.

It's just an idea, Good luck.

Edited by md80man
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yeah the front hubs and or bearings would be my guess, along with bad tires, but cupping or scalloping can be caused by bad bearings.

 

if you regularly do water crossings with your pathy and the front hubs get submerged, water can infiltrate, leading to early failure. If you do water crossings, you have to use marine waterproof bearing grease, look for it in the trailer section, it is used mostly for boat trailers.

 

also the auto locking hubs dont like to be "packed full" of grease. if that was done when the bearings were changed like you said, that could be another reason they arent disengaging.

if you go in and out of 4x4 alot make sure you back up at least the 10 feet necessary to disengage the front hubs, if not further. on my 90 I would back up like 20 feet at least to make sure they disengaged. that was before I changed to manual hubs.

 

I once got a new set of tires on a pickup I used to drive, when they were new (less than 1500 mi) they would set up a beat frequency ( sounds like "wow wow wow wow wow wow wow) at certain highway speeds, but it was barely noticeable and went away once the tires wore down a little.

 

I sometimes drive with chains on here in maine on my 2wd PU, and its one hell of a rough ride on bare pavement at 30mph, so if thats really how it feels, then you have a serious problem.

hope all this helps

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if you go in and out of 4x4 alot make sure you back up at least the 10 feet necessary to disengage the front hubs, if not further. on my 90 I would back up like 20 feet at least to make sure they disengaged. that was before I changed to manual hubs.

 

1m=3ft and that's all you need. i've never had to back up any more then that.. maintaing the hubs (clean and re-pack) once in a while will do wonders... ;)

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Yes It might be my tread pattern causing the road rumbling noise. I looked closely at my front tires and my outside tread kind of resembles Jack-o-lantern teeth. But they still do have alot of life left in them. Maybe when I get the new shocks on they will start to wear evenly?

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