TheRadioFlyer

Have you noticed when the tread is getting low that you get increased road noise particularly on cooler days?

I'm hearing a speed-synced hum that becomes obvious around 35+mph and reminds me of a truck mud tire. I double checked that nothing was rubbing and there's plenty of clearance.

I've had mine on for about 15K miles (originally installed Jan of 2012) and the tread is getting low. I've noticed particularly in the back there is evidence of slightly negative camber (which will be adjusted when new tires are installed)

I'm curious if this is a audible low tread warning similar to the audible warning one gets with aging brake pads.

rjwz28

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01magnetic01

Had a set on my car for about 35k miles/4yrs and they started to get a bit louder as they wore out, about down to the wear bars....no difference whether it was hot or cold. If I compared them to the Goodyear RFs that were previously on it I'd say the were more similar the noise they made, but nothing like M/S tires.

Vetteman Jack

Wish I could provide you some feedback, but my Hankook tires still have plenty of tread left on them and are quiet. Will be following this thread though to see what others say and to see if I should expect the same noise you are experiencing.

corvette77

Mine got louder the more they wore. Had them replaced this summer, after getting 40k miles out of them.

Joepro95

Typical of any worn down directional tire, had v12s on my 370z, but a number of other directional tires, all get loud as they wear. They usually start to cup from lack of rotation, I need to swap mine side to side, if I go home this weekend Ill probably do that after I install my new lights . For a budget street tire look into the BFG sport comp-2, much better than the v12s IMO.

jerkyboy

Interesting thread. I bought a set (seem pretty new) mounted on some wheels and I'm getting a sound like "mud tires" or an airplane propeller. I need to mount my Nittos that are on my OEM wheels to see if the noise goes away. I was getting worried that my rear end was starting to act up.

roscoe118

I've had mine on for about the same amount of miles, and no abnormal/odd sounds at all. Although I don't hear much over the sound of the exhaust...

All tires get louder as the treads get low, and you reach the harder "rubber". But that is usually a "hum" (for lack of a better term), that I'm sure you are aware of, so I'm guessing that is not what you are hearing. Could be, like you suggest, that the tire is designed to do this.

I'll make a concerted effort to listen more closely to mine, and try to make a tread depth (I don't have a tool) measurement if I find someone that has a tool to do this.

Lee DeRaud

I assume you're going to just swap the wheels, not remount the tires: you realize if you do that, they'll be rotating backwards, right? Those arrows on the sidewall are there for a reason.

garline14

I can not comment as my Hankooks still have plenty tread and roughly 8-9k miles. For now they are quiet but as tread wears I would expect the noise level to increase. My exhaust is a bit loud as well so I mianly hear that or music when I am jamming out.

Lee DeRaud

Gear whine is usually load-sensitive: if you let off the throttle slightly the sound will change. Tire whine won't do that.

tcrote5516

A bad alignment will also cause that. I had no tire noise on my Jeep, got an alignment done and the noise popped up because the tires were not wearing evenly before so the contact patch was uneven. After 10k miles on the new alignment the tires have leveled themselves out and the noise is gone.

TheRadioFlyer

You'd have to re-mount the tires in order to get them pointing the right direction

I was a little worried about that to start but letting off the throttle only changed the frequency of the sound and not the actual type of sound.