hey gang, searched around a while and don't really find any clear answers on this subject. When driving I get a whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, etc which I think is coming from my tires. Running stock rubber on the stock sport 19's. car has been aligned, etc and everything is in order. it's got to be coming from the tires, correct? Only noticable wear is from negative camber. I've heard this noise on other cars as well, especially sporty cars. It's less noisy when turning and also when on the highway although its still audible. very loud when driving 30-45 mph but as soon as you start turning it quiets down some. Car has 17k miles on it and there's plenty of tread left. thoughts?

 

probably tread separation.

 

Remove the tires and check each one closely. Perhaps some damage to the inner tread area that may be hard to see with them mounted.

 

Thats kind of an oxymoron!!

Check for cupping on the camber wear area.

 

Sounds like you may have some toe-wear, too.

 

I got the car used and it drove perfectly straight so I never even thought about having it aligned. 14k miles on it when purchased. 3k miles later put on the eibachs and then had it aligned and the noise was slightly louder but not much. The eibachs have caused me to have to run -1.3 camber drivers side front and -1.5 camber passenger front. running -1.5 on both sides rear. Toe is spot on all around but it may not have been before. If the damage is already done to the tires not much I can do at this point right? The word feathering comes to mind for some reason. Is that a term used to describe this type of tire wear? Also, what is cupping exactly? The inner couple of inches on all 4 tires are more worn than the rest of the tire but there's still good tread all the way across. Bottom line is the noise is not something to be expected with this type of set-up, correct?

 

http://www.tirewear.org/

Examples of different types of wear and their causes.

 

Nice, thanks BB. I think Feathering is exactly what it is. When you run your hand across the tread surface in one direction its smoot but when you rub your hand across the tread going from the back of the car towards the front each rib on the tire has a sharp edge that catches.

I'm going to flip sides and run the tires on the front in the other direction and see what the sound is like. Flip the back after that and see what that does as well. I will report back.

 

rotated fronts side to side and the noise was even louder. actually causing howling noice and slight vibrations in the cabin. So now back to original position. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and get new tires because the noise is really annoying.

 

That sounds like feathering caused by excessive toe. You may want to check it again if it's been a while.

 

everything's in spec or at least close, I just had it aligned 4 weeks ago. I aligned it after the eibachs were installed so I don't know what the toe, camber, etc were prior to springs going in. I think the damage was done prior to the springs going in as I'v always heard the noise.

Toe on both fronts is +.06 degrees. Camber front left is -1.3, front right is -1.5, both just out of spec. Rear toe is +.10 degrees bith sides and camber is -1.6 degrees both sides, all good there (within oem spec)

One other thing in case this makes a difference, I had the car aligned, then added spacers. didn't think that would make a difference, would it? 20 mm front, 15mm rear.

 

Did you get it aligned right after springs were installed or did you let the springs settle a bit first?

 

I let the springs settle for 5 days prior to alignment. It's probably worth another check soon since it's been a month now... I feel like the damage is already done to the tires and I may as well just tough it out until I put new tires on. As I mentioned it made the same noise prior to having the springs done.

 

It's odd that you'd have accelerated toe wear before you lowered the vehicle, particularly on the front. My experience has been that toe wear tends to often be greater after a drop (particularly when alignment isn't done) and in my case on the rears, not the fronts. If it's on one side you may want to check for bent, loose, or worn suspension components on that side. Control arms, tie rods, etc. Just my thoughts.

 

Happened to me. About 4 months after I bought my G, noticed a vibration coming from the front at about 55mph. Turns out my tires were feathered from toe wear. Was before I put the coils on. No clue what caused the wear. No broken parts, loose stuff or gremlins were noticed.

Was so bad ended up needing new tires. Too bad too cuz I told the wife only tire I could get we're the ps2 haha....shucks