Tire noise from "cupping" (Dealer Speak)

[NCSpeed3]

I have put nearly 24K miles on since May. Religously rotating every 7K. After this last rotation I noticed loud tire noise from the front tires. Dealer says it is cupping from the stock suspesion set up on the rear of the car! They say I have to live with it and that they have had similar issues on the CX7? Anyone have any advice.

 

[Ryz]

The only way you get cupping is when your alignment is out. The only thing is that with 24k on our tires, there's no way you have much life left anyway.

 

[NCSpeed3]

90 % Highway miles ..very littel tire wear

The tires are nearly new except for the cupping on the inside. 90% of miles are highway and I rarely drive hard. The dealer says it is happening becuase of the camber in the rear suspension,

 

[JamJam]

I have put nearly 24K miles on since May. Religously rotating every 7K. After this last rotation I noticed loud tire noise from the front tires. Dealer says it is cupping from the stock suspesion set up on the rear of the car! They say I have to live with it and that they have had similar issues on the CX7? Anyone have any advice.

Its up to you but I would rotate your tires every 4-6k miles.

 

[Craighjr]

The dealer covers the alignment under warranty until 12k. Your at 2 times that so your probably beat and your tires will be noisey until they get replaced.

 

[crystalmeth3]

"what up, A-cup?" i sez to da girl

cupping has less to do with wear and more to do with heat build-up on the contact patches of the tire. I doubt its the camber on your rear suspension cause these are factory settings which are mild camber wise. Your camber would be off it you had a ton of ish in the hatch for a long time, then when on a long road trip. Maybe then cupping.

 

[detsilverms3]

cupping is usually related to one of three things.
1. lack of rotation
2. shocks/springs being bad
3. balance being out.

idk thats just 5 and half years of being a tire tech/dealing tires talking though. alignment problems will make the tire wear quicker on whatever side the alignment is out on. it will not cause cupping at all. i would take it to a reputable tire shop or say a firestone or a goodyear shop. thats just my opinion.

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

I'm having the same problem on my 3. It's wrecked both my summer tires and winter tires, in spite of regular services and alignments by the dealer. IMO, the static alignment might be right, but there's something else going on here. Maybe a bearing problem, maybe something going soft or loose. Maybe combined with something that causes too much noise to couple to the body. Regardless, I'm probably going to have to take it apart myself and analyze the problem, because the dealers solution is new tires and more alignments. I've never had a car chew up tires so badly. It's at 50,000 miles and my wife says to trade it in and get rid of it. Other than that one problem, I really love the car and there isn't anything else out there for the money I'd want to get.

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

Good news- this morning I got the dealer mechanic to take the car for a spin. He confirmed that the real problem is the left front wheel bearing. We'll change that out and see what happens. My only fear is that when the noise from the left front is gone, the right front might show up. I was fooled because the initial bearing noise really sounds like tire noise. He also said my winter tires look fine. Bottom line- listen for not only the traditional grinding noise from bearings, but a once per rev grind or low frequency noise, especially if it differs when you turn left or right.