Car question--vibration

[germdoc]

Here's a car question for you guys: I have a 2005 Honda CRV, front-wheel drive, that has developed a bad vibration on the highway. On the way back from Omaha this weekend (400 miles) it drove me crazy. It does seem to depend on the road surface and is more or less continuous and increasing with speed. There's no problem with the car handling or braking. It is noticeable even at 30-40 mph.

I have high-quality all-weather tires--Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds--that have a moderate amount of wear. I had the car checked out recently for routine maintenance--they rotated tires, checked brakes, etc., found everything in good shape. I mentioned the road noise or vibration problem, and they told me it was probably the tires.

CRV's are notorious for road noise and a bumpy ride, but this is definitely out of the ordinary. I have also read that AW tires like the TripleTred often have a lot of road noise, and I'm wondering if rotating the tires didn't increase the vibration coming from the tires.

Normally I'm not one to complain about a "minor" thing like road noise, but this is not something I can deal with with the amount of driving I do. It was like driving over a rubboard the entire trip, and made me feel like I drove 800 miles instead of 400. I have to turn the stereo up to 8 or 9 to hear it over the noise.

I am strongly thinking of trading it in for a new Subaru Outback, but any suggestions will be appreciated.

[LCHIEN]

I assume they checke the balance?
alignment problems, bad shocks, struts, running for a long time after loosing a weight etc can lead to scalloping and uneven wear on tires, Once done, you can't fix the tires, even if there's lots of tread. Strangely enough, I think some tires don't like some cars in combination. In the 80's i had one car that chewed up consecutive sets of OEM uniroyals (the ones that came with the car) and only after replacing them with another brand did i get a decent ride.

probably the thing to do is alignment, check the shocks or struts, then replace the tires with new and balanced. Probably not cheap to do all this.

Depends on how much you like the car.

[os1kne]

Maybe a wheel bearing?

[woodturner]

Another, sometimes overlooked, source of vibration is ball joints, CV joints, shocks, and suspension. Had a Toyota with a tough to find vibration that turned out to be a combination of loose ball joints and a loose CV joint.

[cabinetman]

If all your suspension parts, hard parts, and bearings mentioned already are OK, the problem could be back to the tires. Some tires are just noisy. You may have one or more tires with separated belts. If the tires are all good, getting them "trued" to the wheels will improve both the smoothness of the ride, noise, and longevity of wear. Balancing alone may not take out vibration or noise.
.

[jking]

Is it just road noise, or, do you feel the vibration in the ride, too? If the vibration/noise has a regular rhythm that increases with your speed, it's probably the tires. If it comes & goes, (in other words, you experience one day, but, not the next) there's probably something else going on. Can you tell whether it's coming from one part of the car (front, back, one side or the other)? Have you had any work done to the car recently? Have the tires been remounted on the rims since you bought them?

It is possible to have "bad" tires. I've ridden in a car that a set of tires that sounded like knobby atv tires. It can be caused by defective tires, it can also be caused by tread pattern and rubber chemistry. Generally, the better the tire works for inclement weather, the worse it probably is for road noise. Higher mileage tires tend to be noisier & rougher riding.

Where did you buy the tires? You might take the car back & see if they have any insight. As others have mentioned some cars & tires simply do not work well together.

[Daryl]

Check that your lug nuts are tight as well as other items mentioned.

[Mr__Bill]

I would look for a missing wheel balancing weight, look for the mark where it was. Also look for something on the wheel, remember the mud in the wheels in "My Cousin Vinny"? It doesn't take much to make it vibrate. While looking check the tires for a lump the indicates a broken belt. If you can jack the car up spin the wheel and watch for a bit of a wobble, sometimes hitting a curb or the like can bend things just a little. You may be able to go back to where you got your last tires or at least where you bought the car and have them check the balance on the wheels.

That's all the inexpensive things that I can think of.

Bill

[germdoc]

Those are all good suggestions--thanks!

Jking--it first started when I drove through Des Moines...hmmmm...

It does have a regular rhythm that increases with car speed. I just had car maintenance done (75,000 miles) about 3 weeks ago, and I know they checked brakes, suspension, etc. One would think they would have seen a problem with suspension or CV boots.

I'm thinking it probably is the tires. They are highly rated for winter traction, but my research indicates they're well known to ride rough, which will probably get worse as they wear. They did rotate tires at last visit, so this is highly likely to be the culprit.

[Shep]

If I remember corectly, the tires you have are directional tires. I'm wondering if when you had them rotated one might have been installed facing the wrong way, which would explain the noise.

[germdoc]

If I remember corectly, the tires you have are directional tires. I'm wondering if when you had them rotated one might have been installed facing the wrong way, which would explain the noise.

Or I could just drive in reverse...

[jking]

Those are all good suggestions--thanks!

Jking--it first started when I drove through Des Moines...hmmmm...

It does have a regular rhythm that increases with car speed. I just had car maintenance done (75,000 miles) about 3 weeks ago, and I know they checked brakes, suspension, etc. One would think they would have seen a problem with suspension or CV boots.

I'm thinking it probably is the tires. They are highly rated for winter traction, but my research indicates they're well known to ride rough, which will probably get worse as they wear. They did rotate tires at last visit, so this is highly likely to be the culprit.

This is pothole season around here. I'm sure your neck of the woods is similar.

If I remember corectly, the tires you have are directional tires. I'm wondering if when you had them rotated one might have been installed facing the wrong way, which would explain the noise.

This was actually where I was headed with my question about remounting. Now that you mention it, if the tires on left & right sides were swapped, they would end up being oriented the opposite direction. The tread pattern definitely looks directional.

germdoc - it'd be worth looking at. If you're not sure which way the tires should be oriented, where you bought them should be able to tell you.

[tommyt654]

Radial tires are swapped front to back not side to side, That can be a problem as well, Also you might check for a warped rotor.

[pelligrini]

Also you might check for a warped rotor.

He did mention that there weren't problems braking, a warped rotor would really be evident then. My first guess would be a tire out of balance. More often than not it's usually just a missing weight.

I'd torque all the lug nuts before I'd drive it anywhere though. I lost my right rear tire on my '69 GTO when I first started driving, pretty darn scary even at 35-40 MPH.

[Uncle Cracker]

One other possibility, although less likely than the others, is a busted motor mount. If all else fails, check that.