07EddyB
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- November 18, 2011
- Messages
- 1,058
- Reaction score
- 284
- City, State
- Bowling Green, KY
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2007 Ford Explorer 4.6 V8
So I bought new tires at 90K. They were rotated at 100K in a cross pattern - the rears went straight to the front on each side and the fronts were crossed to the back. No problem. Fast forward to last weekend where I rotated them again at 110K. Same rotation pattern but this time I'm getting a lot of road noise from the tires. It is very noticeable at speed. I am assuming at this point that it is the rear tires making the noise because they are in effect rotating backwards now from what they are used to.
RR bearing has about 14K on it - LR bearing has about 8K on it. LF bearing has about 5K on it - RF has about 25K on it. I only mention that for info purposes - I don't think this is bearing related.
Before the rotation, I had noticed increased noise and vibration that was much like a bad bearing which is why 2 of my bearings are so new. That did not solve the issue.
It wasn't bad enough to really worry about it so I had pretty much pushed it to the side until the rotation. After the rotation, I realized that I might have a front end problem since I now have less vibration yet more noise. My working theory is that something in the front end is wearing the tires unevenly and when I cross rotated them it became more obvious. The vibration decreasing when those tires went to the back is bolstering that theory for me.
I will mention that it hasn't had a front end alignment since probably around 2009 at around 20K right after I bought it. It tracks really well and our roads here are not bad. Tires haven't been balanced since they were put on 20K ago.
So what specifically do I need to look at from your experience? The Ex only has 110K on it - I'm wasn't expecting front end work to be required at this point. Do tie rods/ball joints fail this quickly? Any suggestions on testing them?
Edit - forgot to mention that none of the tires show any cupping or any unusual wear.
RR bearing has about 14K on it - LR bearing has about 8K on it. LF bearing has about 5K on it - RF has about 25K on it. I only mention that for info purposes - I don't think this is bearing related.
Before the rotation, I had noticed increased noise and vibration that was much like a bad bearing which is why 2 of my bearings are so new. That did not solve the issue.
It wasn't bad enough to really worry about it so I had pretty much pushed it to the side until the rotation. After the rotation, I realized that I might have a front end problem since I now have less vibration yet more noise. My working theory is that something in the front end is wearing the tires unevenly and when I cross rotated them it became more obvious. The vibration decreasing when those tires went to the back is bolstering that theory for me.
I will mention that it hasn't had a front end alignment since probably around 2009 at around 20K right after I bought it. It tracks really well and our roads here are not bad. Tires haven't been balanced since they were put on 20K ago.
So what specifically do I need to look at from your experience? The Ex only has 110K on it - I'm wasn't expecting front end work to be required at this point. Do tie rods/ball joints fail this quickly? Any suggestions on testing them?
Edit - forgot to mention that none of the tires show any cupping or any unusual wear.