Bad wheel bearings caused my tires to cup?

[pet575]

I have 165K miles on my 2004 Explorer LTD. By noise and decreased gas mileage, I'm confident my rear wheel bearings are bad. Just changed out my front driver and, while it was bad, i still have lots noise and quick deceleration when I let off the gas.

When I rotated my tires I found that the rear tires were badly cupped after only 20K miles were put on the tires. I got the tires new in January 2010 and by June or July they were already loud and vibrating (they were cupped then, I just didn't put all of this information together until recently when I discovered it).

So, I know that misalignment or worn shocks can cause cupping. I don't believe that either of these are my issue. Can bad wheel bearings cause cupping as well?

Thanks.

 

[Robsbrd99]

Low tire pressure

 

[carlson1038]

cupped tires

most likely problem is low tire pressure as stated above, however, you should check your shocks also.

 

[pet575]

I regularly check my tire pressure at least once a month and also have the tire pressure monitoring system. Low tire pressure has never been an issue in the year's time that I've had these tires.

 

[04 EDGE]

Tire "cupping" can be caused from 2 different things, the first is lack of rotation, second is bad shocks. My guess in your case is both.

 

[2002GreyHD150]

YES bearings could cause is, if they are REALLY bad & the wheel is "fluttering" or "floating" it can also cause what some call "feathering" of the tread.

My wife's '04 Monty (AWD) has the driver's front hub/bearing dying on us right now (replacing this weekend) it causes a shudder on moderate to heavy braking... which can cause cupping &/or feathering...

I would venture that if the TPMS is NOT giving you any warnings of low or extremely low tire pressure, the bearings are part of the problem.

I don't know how bad the Rear Bearing are on the IRS in the '02-up Explorer/Monty, but the fronts are a walk in the park. caliper & bracket hung off to the side, (3) 3/4" bolts... axle nut... pop... slam... done... 45minutes, an hour if you have a beer... even on a sloped driveway. LOL

Rob

 

[Joe Dirt]

What tire pressure are you running, and what tires are you running? Are they a van tire, or a truck tire?

 

[pet575]

What tire pressure are you running, and what tires are you running? Are they a van tire, or a truck tire?

Running at 35 PSI; they are BF Goodrich Radial T/A's. Can't remember the exact size/brand, but they are replacements for the BFG's that came on it from the dealer. 3rd set of these tires I've had, same conditions as far as where/how it is drive and the pressures. Never had a problem with them before. Only 2 of the 4 have the problem now, which is baffling to me.

 

[pet575]

UPDATE: I had the tires replaced and was advised the rear shocks are bad. I'm changing them out ASAP. As for the rear bearings, now that I'm driving with new tires I can hear that at least one of them is noisy as well. Got a little work to do on the back end now. I've had the notorious clicking noise for awhile which I've learned on here is the e-brake so I'll be doing that project while I'm back there working on the other stuff.

 

[fusseli]

Now that you have new rubber, rotate every 5k instead of every 20k

 

[747driver]

cupped tires

Had the same problem with my 03 mountaineer . I had changed the front wheel bearings and got a loud noise like the bearings were bad. Took it to Discount Tire for a tire rotation and they told me I had cupped tires from the bad bearings that I just replaced. Well after the rotation the noise has went away. Guess I will should replace the rear bearings one of these days !! I have 148,000 miles.

Chuck

 

[04 EDGE]

Tire chopping/cupping is caused by 2 things, first and foremost is bad shocks/struts, second is lack of rotation.