Thudding sound that increases with speed

My wife had this, or something similar, happen with her car. It was due to the tires being "pitted" or "cupped". The tire place said it could have been caused by a number of things such as poor alignment, improper inflation, etc. They said it could also be just a bad tire (it was only on one tire).

Hopefully it isn't too serious or too costly to have fixed.

 

I've had a rock stuck in the tread before that made a sound similar to what you're describing. Can you tell where the noise is coming from? You might have picked up some debris from the local construction. If there's any wobble or vibration that also increases with speed, you might want to check the tire balance. Sometimes a rough road can knock one of the balancing weights loose. Let us know what you find!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(agill @ Jul 17 2006, 03:59 PM) [snapback]287698[/snapback]</div>

We keep them at the recommended pressure. I guess I could pump them up a couple pounds higher and get better mileage, but she only drive 4.5 miles to work and back. We take the Prius every else, of course.

 

I think it's a good thing you are taking it in, it could be a lot of different things some of them not so good. Brakes, wheel bearing, almost anything that turns. I had a similar noise in my Honda and it turned out to be a tire, something wrong with it internally and it had to be replaced.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(agill @ Jul 17 2006, 02:08 PM) [snapback]287658[/snapback]</div>

Hopefully the dealer found it. If not,

1) drive by the roadway at the front of strip mall late at night when there is no traffic and with the windows closest to the mall rolled down, listen -- you should quickly be able to identify which side it is coming from

2) determine if it is directly proportional to tire rotation speed and not something like a seat belt or other object stuck in the door

3) in an area free from traffic and with a flash light, put car in park, off and inspect the inside of the tires; move car forward 1/4 turn; repeat inspection until inside of tires have been inspected. Be sure to look at tread for foreign object(s)

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

it's a stretch, but did you happen to have any windows down when this happened?

 

Has anyone else experienced something like this, and if yes, then what was it due to.
I have scheduled an apointment with my dealer for the coming Monday.. thats the earliest he could give me.
I hope it is not something major.
[/quote]

I heard a thumping just like yours, so I ran my hands around each tire, rolled the car forward a bit and checked the rest of each tire. I finally found it on the last tire checked. I had picked up a 4" nail that went through the middle tread crosswise...yeah crosswise across the tire. It didn't penetrate the tire, just the tread sticking up. It was the weirdest thing ever. I wish I had taken a picture of it.
It thumped just like yours. Fortunately I could just yank it out and keep on going. I hope your's can be resolved easily. Check for nail/screw/stone carefully.

 

Hi All,

Same thing here this morning. Thud-thud-thud. Turned out to be 1/4 inch thick by 60 degree long patch of tar on the left front tire, about 1/3 the way across the thread and around the edge. Got out the Leatherman tool and picked off as much as I could this morning. Enough so that the car would not shake at above 45 mph! The hot temps around here, and the low temp patching tar they use apparently caused this problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(agill @ Jul 17 2006, 10:47 PM) [snapback]287967[/snapback]</div>

I didn't explain that the purpose of the strip mall building front is to serve as a wall to reflect the sound back. Any wall will do but usually the front of a strip mall has essentially a flat facade long enough you can roll along and hear the reflection. This makes it easy to identify which side the noise is coming from.

Bob Wilson

 

I think you should find another tire dealer and get a new opinion. Your tires should not show any wear to speak of at 5K miles if you have no alignment problems.

Rotating your tires every 3K miles is ridiculous, even the 5K recommended by Toyota may be over doing it a bit. It is possible you have something wrong with a tire that won't show up through visual inspection. When I had a similar problem I found it by replacing the tires. Of course it could be something else that your dealer didn't find.

My suggestion is don't give up on it, you need to find the problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Skwyre7 @ Jul 17 2006, 02:51 PM) [snapback]287693[/snapback]</div>

Alignment isn't expensive to fix (~$100 or less), but even new cars will go bad quickly if you don't have it done.

If a tire is starting to have a tread separation problem, you need to have that replaced. That would cause noises. Don't take chances.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(agill @ Jul 25 2006, 03:04 PM) [snapback]292211[/snapback]</div>

When they patch a tire, they typically clean out the whole, and stick in a piece of rubber and glue it in place in the tire. It'll wear down as you drive. I'd check the tire you had patched and see if you see a small piece of rubber stick out where the nail was. I suspect that is what's causing the noise.

Feathered wear on the tire indicates an alignment problem, but I can't tell how severe it is. (He might be grasping at straws to give an explanation.) Checking the alignment was the right move. Alignment can go bad all at once, though, especially if you hit potholes or curbs. Unever wear can happen "suddenly" as a result. Since your alignment checked out okay, that's not the problem.

Despite what the Goodyear dealer says, 3000 miles between tire rotations is ridiculous. If you rotate your tires, I think you'll only move the noise to a different location.

Anyway, I don't think you're hurting anything. I'd still see if you can get the tire replaced under warranty, though.

hope this helps,

Chris