rims/tire noise

[mazdamike]

I noticed a wobble noise on the front passenger side. After the dealership rotated them it was in the rear even louder. Ive spoken to and brought the car to them and they said its the way the tires wear in the rear and that the noise will go away. Now at 21k miles I need front tires since the pass. side is bald. I guess that serves me right for going to the dealer. I HATE THE RIMS TOO
!

 

[scott42]

I actually think this is an MP3 problem...I have the same exact thing, and no one can seem to figure it out...I rotate at least every 5k mi, and now both front and back passenger side tires are shot on the inside shoulder, but pretty damn good the rest of the way across...as in another 5-10k miles good (I've had them on (non winter only) for about 15k +/- miles...Drivers side looks great front and back...
Man I hate that wobble sound...and I'll hate even more having to get new tires when I don't/ shouldn't need them...

(oh yeah, told the dealer about it, and they didn't even bother doing an alignment or camber check...they seem to think it was a balancing issue...I only had them on for about 1k miles after the balance, but it didn't get any better... I've got the winters on 15" steelies now
If anyone knows of any solutions, let us know

 

[Sir Nuke]

I noticed a wobble noise on the front passenger side. After the dealership rotated them it was in the rear even louder. Ive spoken to and brought the car to them and they said its the way the tires wear in the rear and that the noise will go away. Now at 21k miles I need front tires since the pass. side is bald. I guess that serves me right for going to the dealer. I HATE THE RIMS TOO
!

I would say there is something else wrong.....my wifes P-5 has almost 20K on it.....we are still on the original dunlops....and there is still plenty of tread on them.....and they have all worn VERY even....

I rotate my tires every time i change the oil.....

 

[mx6929]

Re: Re: rims/tire noise

I rotate my tires every time i change the oil.....

where did you get rotations done? are they free??? how long you change oil??? i got dealership (jeff haas) coupon for $30 include balance and rotation every 6000miles. but i thought it's kinda expensive and i want to have SP9000s worn out and put Federal or Nankang tires on, so i skip my 2nd roration. it is almost 16k now and i think i need to spend $500 to replace new tires in one month. because our SP9000s are one direction, so i wonder how much you paid to rotate your tires since they have to be un-mount and mount on again...

 

[Sir Nuke]

Re: Re: Re: rims/tire noise

where did you get rotations done? are they free??? how long you change oil??? i got dealership (jeff haas) coupon for $30 include balance and rotation every 6000miles. but i thought it's kinda expensive and i want to have SP9000s worn out and put Federal or Nankang tires on, so i skip my 2nd roration. it is almost 16k now and i think i need to spend $500 to replace new tires in one month. because our SP9000s are one direction, so i wonder how much you paid to rotate your tires since they have to be un-mount and mount on again...

I do my own tire rotating...as I do NOT move tires from the right side to the left...only front to back. so YES my tire rotation is free. I change the oil and rotate my tires every 3000 miles. I actually got free oil changes for the life of my car but have never taken it to the dealer to have it done...as the closest dealer is 50 miles away...and my time is more valuable to me than to have to make an appointment....drive up there....wait while they change the oil...drive back.....its a lot quicker if every once in a while I stop in and buy 6 filters or so and then just change it myself. not to mention....NOW I know what the quality of the work is...and that its done right...and my car is truely cared for while its being worked on. I can dispose of the old oil at wal-mart at my leasure.

 

[mx6929]

now i know that i paid stupid $30 plus tax and dealer just simply took off them and switched back-forth...not left-right at all...i am glad i asked you and will never pay to rotate again...because i usually went back to show room when i had it maintainance...now i begin to doubt they balance them at all...

 

[rowan]

Well I dunno if all dealerships will have the good balancing equipment that acual tire shops have .. so if you really need a re-balancing, then go to a tire shop.

You can't rotate the Dunlop SP9000 left-to-right without taking them off the rims and re-mounting them because they are directional (again, try a real tire shop when you are ready to switch left-to-right).

Why have you guys not had a full alignment done?

 

[mx6929]

i consider alignment as costly...but if it really worth, i will do it. do you guys think it must be done when i put new tires on???

 

[mazdamp3_18]

i have talked about this many times to people on the forum's here .. no one seems to listen to me ... i work at discount tire and i have been there for 1 year and 3 months... i know just about everything there is to know about tires especially high performance tires... the first thing you guys need to do if you own an mp3 is IGNORE the sticker that says tire pressures... DO NOT air them to the factory specs they only do those pressures for comfort ... at a minimum air them up to 35 front and rear... personally i kept mine at 42front and 36-37 rear.. no feathering at all ... wore perfectly.. rotate the tires every 3-5k miles... i do every oil change... balance them every other rotation...
it will do NO good to ratate them left to right and it is a waste of money... i would never deal with the dealership on tires .. they do not know what they are talking about nor do they know how to diagnose problems.. always go to a tire shop .. such as discount tire... granted a lot of tire shops are crap.. but there are a lot of good ones... if ANYONE has questions about tires or of the sort i highly suggest talking to me before making any huge decisions... i can help you a lot...

 

[scott42]

I have been running my tires at 36-38 up front and 32-34 in the back. with the back that high, it does kick out every once in a while when on the brakes in a corner, so I'm usually more towards 32 than 34 in back...I also felt like that when I went higher (up front 37+psi), it sounded/felt worse (the bad wear, not the ride)
I'm lost

 

[rowan]

i consider alignment as costly

Well seeing as you are having extremely uneven tire wear .. would you rather replace a $200+ tire every few months or have a one-time $60 cost for an alignment? (Canadian prices)

They will not do an alignment on your car just to put new tires on. You will actually have to ask that they do one.

 

[scott42]

mazdamp3_18, any advice for me based on my post above?

 

[mazdamp3_18]

i dont know how bad your tires look but from hearing what you guys are describing is pointing towards both alignment and improper tire pressures .. if you have a digital camera take a pic and send it to me and i can give you better input...

 

[rowan]

scott42: there is no need to run your tires at pressures that high. (assuming you are measuring cold pressures)
35 front should be plenty. and then maybe 33 rear?

 

[cjstringer]

Anyone with negative camber problems in the mood to do a suspension swap? I'd be more than happy to give up my evenly balanced suspension for a setup with negative camber. Just tell me when and where. I'm in. (THIS IS NOT A JOKE)

 

[scott42]

34 front 31-32 rear is my more everyday type psi's... running higher was an attempt to help the bad tire wear that I was getting at any combination of lower psi's...outside worn first psi is too low...that's what was happening so I bumped it up, worked great...the only problem here is the inside edge of the front passenger side tire. I'm convinced its a camber problem from the car coming off the line because several people have had the same problem. We'll see when it gets warmer and the tires get back on...

 

[AZxMP3]

I have been dealing with this camber problem since September of 2002.. The dunlops wore on the inside of the tires.. all 4. The dealerships here has no idea what is wrong and got me 4 Parada spec2's in which I contributed $300... Now the tires are wearing inside after 5000 miles... So the dealership calls Mazda NA... The regional Mazda Rep is called and its investigated.... The rep said its all the dunlop tires.. those tires wear like that.... Thats B.S. because the Parada's are wearing the same... Guys & Gals face it there is a problem with the suspension.. Mazda doesnt want to screw with 1500 cars.. and we will get the run around if we dont stand up and say something... I have to call Mazda NA again this morning and go from here... This post will hopefully help... There is also more past posts about this issue... Go to your dealerships and raise hell... or replace our tires every 15 to 20k.. Let me know what you hear if you take your cars in.. I have been screwing with this issue for a long ass time...

 

[cjstringer]

AzxMP3, you ever get ou tnear the midwest? I want your suspension parts if you get them replaced. I WANT the negative camber issue you are having. WHy is it such an issue for all you guys? Do you all drive in a straight line all the time? These cars are made to perform, especially in the corners. That's where negative camber would help you. If you want to trade, I seriously would love to have a negative camber setup instead of this straight setup I have now.
Also, if you want to correct your problem, get some camber bolts. I've posted before about them. They can take up to 2deg of camber out of each corner in the front. That should fix a lot of problems.

 

[dolphin]

Unless you have had the car aligned by a good shop, I think the tire wear is more likely to be the toe. I have as much negitive camber in mine as it will get with the stock parts. This only amounts to less than 2 degrees on the rear and less than 1 degree on the front. The wear on my tires is caused by autocrossing which is a different set of wheels and tires. The street tires wear fine.