ColonialOne

After having a tire patched that had a nail in it, I started hearing a "rrr-rrr" sound that seemed louder at lower speeds and almost non-existent at higher speeds. So, I took it in and my right front strut was leaking and so I had the front struts replaced and also did the rear shocks because of mileage (60K). I still hear the sound, though not as loud. I was told my tires were cupping, but not which ones. Initially the sound was coming from the right rear, but after having the tires rotated, it's coming from the right front now.

Should I replace the tires that are cupped or have them move the tires back to where they were? They're all Bridgestone Potenza G019's and have been on the car about a year and a half.

jfhwkins

I would look into tie rod ends and the bushings in the front end. Tire cupping is caused by tie rod ends or other bushing assosiated with steering.

djs2571

yea, worn steering components can allow the tire to wobble back and forth to cause cupping issues. Just the alignment being off I think can do it too. Go into a midas or somewhere and they have diagrams showing the tire wear patterns. Have someone check the steering like jfhwkins said was bad, you can yank the tires themselves, trying to turn them right and left when the car is parked. You should not be able to feel any slop - if so there's steering issues that need to be fixed immediately.