[dtro]

My 2004 4x2 rear passenger tire wore unevenly. I have 30,000 on the tires. The tire in question is abnormally loud. I brought it into the dealer not knowing where the sound was coming from. They did some shimming in the rear and moved the tire to the front. I was told that the tire should wear back down and the noise should go away eventually. That was a few months (3000 miles) ago.
The noise is still there. A loud roar, loud enough that I can't hear to talk on the phone (probably a good thing :wink: ). It's the tire for sure as the sound moved from the back to the front. Would it be better to take my spare and swap the wheels and use the new tire, or to maybe buy two new tires or even four?
Any good tire suggestions?
Thanks

 

[dtro]

Well I went ahead and swapped with the spare. It made a noticable difference. I gotta believe that there is a quieter tire out there though. The current ones are Toyo's. 215/70/16

 

[Jeff]

The stock Toyos get pretty loud as they wear down, and are usually shot by 30-35K miles. Both sets that I had lasted about 25K before I replaced them, and although they wore evenly, they were still pretty loud. When it was time for the third and fourth sets of tires I switched to Coopers and have been quite happy. I should mention that now I have one set for summer use and one set for winter use since I live up in snow country.

 

[Marcutio]

Check Tire Rack.com for tires. It gives you the noise rating for each tire. Also check the bad tire again for "scolloping" (raised and lower sections usually along one side and more comonly, the inside) if its scolloped then you have more problems than just the noise. If your dealer "shimmed" the suspension then they may have fixed the problem. Go with Michelin or Bridgstone for quiet. They have some of the best. They also make alot of the other tires out there with different names on them. The Bridgestone RE950 is awesome. "Don't buy cheap" is the best rule of thumb when it comes to tires. With out a good tire all you have is a 3000lbs paper weight. You get what you pay for and since it is a RAV 4 it deserves a good tire. Otherwise you could have saved thousands a bought a Suzuki. Marcutio Out!

 

[Springmills]

I have a 2004 RAV4 with almost 25,000 miles on it. I had noise from the tires (Toyo Tranpath 215/70R16's) that I could not isaolate to any specific tire. I took it to my dealer who said that all four tires were cupped on the inside.

I had not rotated these tires according to the 7500 mi schedule, but I've never had a vehicle that experienced tire wear such as this, and there did not appear from a visiual examination of the tires from the outside that any abnormal wear was occurring.

I was also surprised in looking at the Toyo pamphlet that it recommends cross-rotating these radial tires. I've always been told not to do that with radials...but to keep them on the same side.

I'm going to take it to a Toyo tire distributor, but I don't look for much sympathy...

When I get new tires, I may very well use another brand, and I'll be much more faithful to the recommended rotation.

Matt

 

[Liz]

The stock Toyo Tranpath tires are/were horrible. Not only did they have very little road grip (really terrible on wet roads, too), they were also a bit noisy and they also cupped eventually. :roll:

Scrap those original Toyos and buy something better.

I bought Michellins, and I've been very happy with their performance. The Michellin Harmony tires have an 80k mile warranty, and I've probably had them for 50-60k miles already. I think I must have run over a nail or something recently, though, since one of the tires keeps losing air.

 

[Marcutio]

In all the old tire books and some info still being used today, by fitment guides and auto manufactures, it does say that cross rotation is what should be done. However all tire reps. that I deal with Michelin/ Bridgestone/ BFG. all recomend that the tires stay on the same side of the vehicle their entire life. All seminars I've been to have, over and over told us that you must maintain the same rotation (direction) on each tire for the life of that tire. Switching direction may cause a "belt separation" comonly but falsely refered to as a "broken belt". Belts don't break they separte unless you severely tear-up your tire by driving on it flat which is a different story. P.S. To everyone! Check your tire presure today! How long has it been? Your tires will loose 3-5 psi/month naturaly. That is it bleeds through the rubber. Fill with Nitrogen as an alternative. see new topic in "Gereral".

 

[Carlman]

The stock Toyo Tranpath tires are/were horrible. Not only did they have very little road grip (really terrible on wet roads, too), they were also a bit noisy and they also cupped eventually.

I hope you got an alignment before you got new tires... Otherwise, you're on the same path as you were with the 'horrible' stock tires...

I have found just the opposite with the stock tires... grippy enough all the time and great in the rain. Maybe it's the AWD but I have no issue with grip. The ride is quiet enough for me. I do have only 5,k on the clock at this point, though... If the alignment is off, the tires will get noisy after getting cupped/scalloped. So, blame the alignment, not the tire for these problems...

-C

 

[DECO]

Just curious, what tire pressure do you folks use?
My Bridgestone Dueler HT 215/70 16's say Max Load 44 lbs.
The plate on the RAV says 29 lbs front and rear.

Anybody use any other pressure?

Thanks!

 

[Liz]

Hello, Carlman.

Actually, I get my wheels and tires balanced and rotated every 3-5k miles and aligned about every 5k miles. I've done that for every car I've owned, including the RAV, but those Toyos were the only tires I ever experienced weird wear on.


Deco,

Stick with something around 30 psi.
If you go with lower pressure, the ride gets mushy, bumpy, less controllable, and the sidewalls will overflex, which will really cut your tire life short. Whatever you do, don't put too much air in. :shock: 44 psi is the max., and at high pressures tires have no room for air expansion when the tires heat up, and you risk blowouts and other nasty disasters.

 

[Marcutio]

Go to "Nitrogen Tire Technology" in the General 4.2 section to see my thoughts on Air Presure. STICK WITH WHAT IS ON THE DOOR POST!!!!! Max presure is only on the tire because of regulations that say mauufactures have to post max presure of any presure holding device. Your tire will fail if you run it on max presure and wear out quicker if you over or under inflate in gereral.

 

[Mohit]

stick with stated pressures if you want a soft ride. in all our cars i inflate 4 to 6 psi more than the stated pressures to get the best combo of ride comfort, handling and tyre life.

 

[Carlman]

Hey Liz, all I can figure is that your alignment was out when you first bought the car... so a bad pattern was forming up until your first alighnment... Once tires start to wear weirdly, the pattern is there and can't be corrected...

I just bought a new BMW and asked them to check the alignment before I picked it up... they were shocked and thought it was an odd request... but EVERY car I've ever owned had a bad alignment when it was new. The RAV4 may be the exception but I doubt it... I haven't had it checked yet which is too bad.... I know I'll need new tires before I should...

BTW, as to the PSI, running at 29 is too squishy for my tastes... I like 32. But, it's summer and the tires will get hotter... so, I'm running 29 again just to be on the safe side... boingy boingy..

 

[Jeff]

The alignment was fine with my Rav, and the Toyos still wore out after 25K miles (both sets) although they did wear evenly with no cupping.

I get an alignment done every year or so, usually around the time I get a new set of tires or when I get a coupon. I get the tires balanced when I feel they need to be, which can range from 2K miles to 20K miles. I keep the pressure at about 32-34 and rotate every 5-8K miles. As for the rotation pattern, it depends what mood I'm in at the time...

 

[dtro]

well......I bit the bullet and went out and got 4 Yokohama Geolanders installed, rides like a million bucks now

 

[Stafford Meadow]

I had my tires checked because the Toyo's that came with the Rav were feathering on the outside front and rear. The tire dealer that rotated them said the alignment is probably off. The Toyota dealer will not warranty alignment. With the car 1 year old and 7400 miles it seems like the alignment wasn't done right at the factory.

 

[Stafford Meadow]

I took the Rav to another Toyota dealer and the service manager claims the tires were underinflated. I kept them at 31 lbs. checked them frequently and that was slightly above the recommended pressure of 29 lbs. so I know they were not underinflated. He told me that the proper pressure should be 35 lbs. and they should be rotated every 3000 miles. Rotation seems like it wouldn't fix the problem because even the back tires were feathered on the outside and look indentical to the front. I raised the air pressure to 35 lbs. and I'll see what happens, but my feeling is that if that were the right pressure why doesn't Toyota state that in the manual since it's quite a difference.

 

[Marcutio]

Stick with what is factory recomended! Some people who work at dealerships are not "Toyota" trained or "Tire" trained to know exactly what presure goes with what car. The Toyota Engineers get paid well to figure that stuff out. I trust them since they are legally on the hook if it is wrong. Note: If you change your size of tires you need to adjust your presure accordingly. Any reputable dealer will have a book with "optional" tire size and presures for your vehicle. Over inflating 5-6 psi will cause uneven presure on your tread. This is dangerous and the most noticable in the wet. Maybe not when your tires are new or even not right away but if your lucky enough to make it to your next tire change you will notice this. The drastic difference in wear from the outside to the inside. Your tire will almost look concave with the center worn out of it. The recomended presure is designated to keep even presure across the tread to give you optimal performance in all weather.
For example if you put 6 psi more in your tires and drive for a long distance on the highway, as your tire heats up the presure will change as 5 psi. (with conventional air inflation see "general 4.2" for other inflation options) Thats an increase of 11 psi. now you have a reduced presure on the outside of your tire due to extreme overinflation. You will have a reduced contact patch at highway speed as a result. So where is your increased handling now? Hit some rain and you in trouble, throw in a curvey road and you may be in the ditch or worse. Best rule of thumb is: If you have an O.E. size, stick with O.E. recomendations they are there for a reason. M. Out.

 

[Mohit]

following toyota air pressure recommendations is the last thing u want to do! toyota pressures are there maily for ride comfort. on my rav when i was running my original and second set of tyres i always over inflated by a few psi to give better handling and tyre life. both sets lasted over 4 years each. if u want a soft ride then go for toyota pressures. if you want to save money and make your tyres last over inflate a bit. all our cars have always had over inflated tyres for this very reason with no ill effects.

 

[DECO]

Well, I guess everyone's got an opinion on PSI...
My take on it is that since 29 is the recommended pressure, and I don't check my pressure every other day, I usually over-inflate by a couple of pounds. Why? Well, if the tires lose pressure over time, and I start out at 29, then a month later I'd be running at 27 or so. So if I start out high and end up low, I figure I average out in the end.
But I got my RAV March 1st and the pressure was at 29... it's still at 29 (except for 1 tire - 28) 4 months and 3500 miles later. I've never had tires hold pressure this well for so long. (regular old air, not fancy stuff). Bridgestones.

Jim.