Tire Noise

Just joined and looking for help! I have a 2015 Legacy with P225/55R17 Goodyear tires which all of a sudden have gotten really noisy. I’m pretty sure it’s the tires because the frequencies of the humming are closer together at higher speeds. I have a little over 30k miles on the car and am the original owner. I have had the tires rotated every 6k miles and they still have lots of tread life (around 9/32 I believe). The dealer said some tires just get loud after a while and the rep that helped me said he used to work at Goodyear and wouldn’t recommend buying this type of tire again when I replace (go figure). I had them check the suspension to make sure it wasn’t caused by a control arm, shock/strut, or bushing and everything checked out fine. I didn’t specifically ask if they checked the wheel bearings but I’m assuming a suspension check would include that. They said I should just keep driving it because there’s nothing wrong with the car or tires. I am considering replacing them because it’s really annoying that they are so loud. The car rolls pretty smooth so I don’t think it’s a balancing issue. Haven’t check alignment - again, not sure if that’s included in the suspension check but I doubt it. My fear is buying a new set of tires and then having the noise continue! Any suggestions or relatable stories??

I actually took it to another shop to get a third opinion and and I specifically asked them to check the wheel bearings. They said my back left bearing is making noise! You would think the dealer would have checked that when they inspected my suspension but they totally missed it. So, I’m getting the wheel bearing replaced next week and hopefully that solves the problem - but we’ll see. The car has a little over 30k miles and the tires are original. There is no physical sign of damage, cupping, or uneven wear on the tires so I don’t think a picture would help.

If the noise persists after the wheel bearing is changed it might still be your tires. I've had tires get noisier with age, too. The number of heat cycles - taking a cold tire up to normal running temperature and then letting it cool down again - over time causes the rubber compound to harden which increases noise. This can happen when your driving pattern is mainly short trips that accumulate more heat cycles with few miles.

The noise of a bad wheel bearing can sound like a noisy winter tire, or like a growling small propeller aircraft engine.

I've had all four bearings replaced on my 2015 Legacy 3.6 and one on my daughter's 2015 Outback.

wkrewson that is unbelievable! I took it back to the dealer today and they told me the bearing is fine and isn’t making any noise. I then forced the dealer to talk to the wheel/tire shop owner and they were at a stale-mate. The tire shop said he knows it’s the bearing and the dealer insisted the bearing is fine and isn’t making any noise. The dealer refuses to replace a part that doesn’t appear to be misfincitipming. So now I’m back where I started. I wish I knew another Legacy owner in my area that I can swap wheels/tires with temporarily to test it. My gut tells me it’s really the tires but I will be very upset if I purchase 4 new tires only to find out that the noise is still there. If there are multiple wheel bearings that have gone bad, that would be very interesting. wkrewson, did the bearings make noise when the car was in the air? Was their any unusual symptoms that are not typical of wheel bearing failure?

I would be shocked if you have 9/32" after 30k since tirerack says the OE Goodyears have 10/32" when new

My symptoms on both cars were what I thought was tire noise. On my daughter's car it sounded like a motorcycle was next to my car (rear right side). Once they checked at the dealer, they told me they used a stethoscope to listen and discovered the bad bearings.

Hi all. First post here. I currently have a '17 Legacy as a company car and prior to that had a '15. My '17 has about 37k miles on it and had developed this road noise. I finally had enough of it and took it in to the local dealer yesterday and they determined that both my front wheel bearings were bad! Had the bearings in stock so got it fixed up. My '15 never had this problem so a supplier issue seems likely. Hope you get yours sorted.

Thanks Boiler Inspector, this is super helpful. I think I’m going to try a different dealer and NOT tell them what I think the problem is this time (just let them try and figure it out without my bias). I’ve heard more about bad wheel bearings on Subarus than I ever expected possible. I was planning on gettting new tires but these posts have re-sparked my curiosity. I will post again as soon as I take it in to this other dealer.. Thanks for all the great feedback!

just a little FYI

 

A. Tires will get noticeably noisier when they are near the end of their service life

 

B. If a wheel bearing makes noise at road speed, it will be easily findable with the wheel on or off the car

 

1. you will hear it when you slowly turn the wheel in EITHER direction. it may also have slop in it when you tug on the wheel side to side or top to bottom

 

2. with the wheel off you will be able to tell it does not turn smoothly by hand (the hub)

 

This is what you tell the dealer when you bring it in

 

1. you have had the tires replaced at XXXXX miles and you are still hearing a noise from (insert corner of car here). To verify it was not tire related, I had them ROTATE the tires and the noise remained at (insert corner of car here). You have to give them enough information so they have an idea of what is up.

 

Any competent mechanic will be able to find it...

I actually haven’t had the tires replaced yet - they are the originals and have around 32k on them. The first dealer I took it to said these particular tires (Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max) tend to get noisy after a while. I’ve rotated them every 6k miles and they have lots of tread left. The limited manufacturer warranty says they’re good for 65k miles! So that means they shouldn’t even be half done yet. Ride quality is really suffering right now too, the car feels mushy and doesn’t do bumps well right now. When making a u-turn the other day it actually felt wobbly like the lug nuts were loose. These all kind of sound like tire symptoms but I could be totally wrong. Tomorrow morning I take it to another dealer to get their analysis. Frustrating!

sorry misread your post, but the same idea applies.

 

To verify it was not tire related, I had them ROTATE the tires and the noise remained at (insert corner of car here). Tire noise will change a bit with rotation if they are all noisy, however if it is one or two tires making noise, you will notice a change as to where it comes from...

 

Personally I like Bridgestone tires as they are very quiet and long lasting. The EL400's that came on my '14 lasted 40K and could have gone 5-6K if it was not closing in on winter time.

 

no dealer likes warranty work as they are not paid for it as if it was a customer paid issue...the GOOD dealers will take care of you and address the issue. the CRAP dealers will push you off.

I don't know why the OE Goodyears get such a bad rap? Maybe I'm not fussy enough?

I don't know. I have 42k on the clock and mine are worn to 7/32" combined city and

highway driving. They seem to be lasting and they give me no problems in rain or snow.

I keep pressure at 33psi and have them rotated every 6k. They never were

real quiet but not too noisy either.

I would buy them again. The thing I like about goodyear is, there are stores every where, should I need a tire.

 

balbrec2

Personally, I found the OEM LS2 tires terrible. They were awful in the snow (especially for an AWD vehicle), had soft sides, and were noisy. I "solved" the problem by putting on a set of Continental Tru Contact tires which are very quiet, have a stiffer sidewall (less lean-more control) and are much better in the snow. They are NOT snow tires, but are a good choice if you don't want to bother with having a spare set of 4 snow tires. I am in NH and have had no issues in the winter.

Personally, I found the OEM LS2 tires terrible. They ARE awful!!!

 

Corrected!

 

Cheap tires, bought in bulk, and slapped on the rims. That's that. I will change them out, soon, as I've already got the itch to do so!

 

Sorry to hear about the OP's issues. Hope you find some resolve...soon!

Personally, I found the OEM LS2 tires terrible. They were awful in the snow (especially for an AWD vehicle), had soft sides, and were noisy. I "solved" the problem by putting on a set of Continental Tru Contact tires which are very quiet, have a stiffer sidewall (less lean-more control) and are much better in the snow. They are NOT snow tires, but are a good choice if you don't want to bother with having a spare set of 4 snow tires. I am in NH and have had no issues in the winter.

 

Mine have some kind of a wobble in them. Tried getting them balanced at different places, but it doesn't go away. They checked the rims and the rims were good. They heat up more than I'd like, so at operating temp they are almost 42 psi if I inflate to the recommended 33. I run them at a lower cold psi ~31 which seems to keep wobble in control. The road noise isn't too bad for me, but I'm not a fan of the handling. Haven't tried them in the snow yet, so I'll find out.

 

Most folks I spoke with only had bad things to say. If you see reviews online, they are like a 4.5 star on every site. But then again, they go on a whole bunch of cars as OEMs and the dealers sell then as replacements and most people can't tell the difference between tires and rocks!

 

When I went to see the car I saw the tires developed cracks on the sidewalls at only 35k on them. I got the dealer to put on all 4 new tires before I picked up the car, which they agreed to do citing it as a safety concern. The only ones they had were the OEM LS2s so I took them over nothing. so I'm kinda stuck with them till they wear out some (unless I put down some dough). I'd hate to throw away new tires... I'll be looking at conti pros when the time comes.

Have 40,000 on the car now and the ls2 are very noisy now. Not sure now what i'm replacing them with i want quiet and nice ride. Suggestions????

Have 40,000 on the car now and the ls2 are very noisy now. Not sure now what i'm replacing them with i want quiet and nice ride. Suggestions????

 

I've looked through tirerack.com and given I live in Florida, my requirements are a bit different. Last car had Michelin PSS's on it, and they were awesome, but, not for you guys up in the NE/Snowbelt.

 

Try tirerack.com or 1010tires.com, I'm sure you'll find the right ones based on their testing, reviews, etc. GL!

 

Lastly, as you'll see even on TR's site, the LS2's get really bad ratings.

Yesterday was a great day. The second dealer I took it to actually wanted to test drive the car with me in it to help identify the problem. While on the road, the tech said it sounded like a wheel bearing but he couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. I left the car with them and went to work wondering if they were going to call me later saying I need to replace my tires. To my amazement, I get a call mid afternoon saying the front and rear passenger wheel bearings are bad and they’re already working on replacing them! So, the first dealer said it was the tires BOTH times I took it to them (the second time specifically asking them to check the wheel bearings very carefully) and the tire shop (that also does suspension and general repairs) said it was the rear driver side wheel bearing. I’m still dumbfounded (or maybe they should be) that these “professionals” couldn’t figure it out. I literally had to get a fourth opinion before identifying the the problem (the first opinion was America’s Tire who also said it was tire noise). I got the car back late afternoon and it drives like brand new again - no road noise! I was so close to buying a new set of 4 tires. Thank you Lord I didn’t spend the money since they are actually in perfect condition. If it weren’t for the kind folks that posted on this forum about their wheel bearing issues, I probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to keep digging for the truth - THANK YOU ALL!!

^^Cool! Glad it was resolved to your satisfaction. I'd stick with that dealership, from now on.

I keep pressure at 33psi and have them rotated every 6k.

 

I'm not wanting open a tire pressure debate because everyone has a different opinion, and this is probably an unnecessary question to you, but I assume your 33psi is cold pressure? From what I have read, the manufacturer's tire pressure recommendations are meant to be cold pressure readings, but I would guess that many people take their reading when their tires are hot. I have a good quality pressure gauge, and I only travel 5 minutes to my nearest air pump and the difference between home and there is still approx 2 psi ..... so I always allow for that when putting air in.

Have 40,000 on the car now and the ls2 are very noisy now. Not sure now what i'm replacing them with i want quiet and nice ride. Suggestions????

The problem for the Limited model (I don't know what you have) is that the tire size, 225/50/18 is "odd" and there are only a few choices available. I got the Continentals but that is just my choice due to reviews and the fact that they have a 90,000 mi warranty.

I found that a slightly different size of 225/55/18 is made by a large number of manufacturers, but I could not get a definitive answer from either the Subaru dealer, or the tire store whether the slightly different tire would be OK for the my car so I went with the original size.

The only other suggestion I would make is to buy your tires locally rather than through one of the on line places. It is easy to find a tire store which give free rotation/balance for the life of the tire which more than makes up for the difference between the on-line and local sale.

Not on a Subaru but the OEMs on current car were Bridgestones which I hated. Moved on to DWS Conti's which I was pretty happy with and now have a set of Goodyears, but in spite of good reviews not much more than a year old and they are getting noisy. If all goes well soon my next set of new tires will come with a new car attached.

 

I second the tirerack.com or 1010tires.com suggestion above.

I'm glad the OP had his problems solved.

 

now have a set of Goodyears, but in spite of good reviews not much more than a year old and they are getting noisy.

 

Which Goodyear model?

 

I'm pleasantly surprised by how quiet my current Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 tires are. Much quieter than the Dunlop Sport Maxx 050 that came with my car. The first-gen Eagle F1 I owned years ago was the noisiest tire I'd ever tried.

 

Let's see how well the Eagle F1A3 holds up after the proverbial year [emoji51]

 

I found that a slightly different size of 225/55/18 is made by a large number of manufacturers, but I could not get a definitive answer from either the Subaru dealer, or the tire store whether the slightly different tire would be OK for the my car so I went with the original size.

 

Why wouldn't 55 profile tires be okay, other than your speedo under-reading slightly, and the increased rubber weight putting a teeny bit more strain on your wheel bearings? And at stock height, you shouldn't have clearance issues either.

 

Last car had Michelin PSS's on it,

 

I've always wanted to try PSS but they (and even PS4) are ridiculously overpriced here, and the trend will probably continue with the PS4S. All three Michelin models are supposed to have low tire noise.