tyre noise

[mlowdon]

ive got a a6 diesel 2.5. ive just rotated my tyres and now there is some road noise coming from the front tyres. the tyres that are on the front now have lots of tread on them and the rear ones are 2 thirds worn. why am i getting this extra tyre noise. help would be great!

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Did you change the direction of rotation when you swapped them around? ie, a diagonal swap?

Do you have directional treads, but have them in the wrong direction??

Rgds

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Ohh, and welcome to the forum

[mlowdon]

the rotation is correct but i have since spoke to a audi dealer and ATS tyres. they both told me its a common problem when the front tyres are new. they said its because they are v wide 225's. the extra rubber on the edges causes noise and will go away when they wear down a bit. so i swapped them back around to test this and sure enough the noise went away. ive now put the tyres back and i will just have to put up with it for a few thousand miles. many thanks for your reply.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

the rotation is correct

But did you diagonally swap the tyres, ie, did you swap the rear left with the front right?? Radial ply tyres should never have their direction of rotation changed (as a matter of routine! In emergencies?, let common sense prevail ), even if they are NOT "directional tyres"!

but i have since spoke to a audi dealer and ATS tyres. they both told me its a common problem when the front tyres are new.

Well, that is something new to me, and I used to have close links with some tyre manufacturers!

they said its because they are v wide 225's.

I would hardly call 225s as "very wide"! I presume they were the standard fitment on the A6, and you are using the original wheels?

the extra rubber on the edges causes noise and will go away when they wear down a bit.

But that would only occur on USED tyres, on a car which has alignment problems.

so i swapped them back around to test this and sure enough the noise went away. ive now put the tyres back and i will just have to put up with it for a few thousand miles. many thanks for your reply.

At the end of the day, there is no need to rotate tyres. The Torsen quattro 4wd layout on your Audi is a simple (but extremely effective) system, and can cope well with large differences in tyre wear!

By rotating, you now have new tyres on the front, and worn tyres on the rear. This has been proven to be a dangerous combination, by independent research.

If I were you, I'd put them back as they were, the worn on the front, the newer on the rear. If you are concernd about the "ageing" issue of tyres, then when you have new boots fitted to the front, run-in the new tyres for 500 miles (also gives you a better oportunity to check that the wheel balance was done properly! ), and THEN swap the fronts to the rears!

HTH, rgds

[mlowdon]

thanks for all your replys.
ive had the car to a audi dealer and the alignment checked. there is no problems with the car or tyres. they say it is a common problem. when you have the rs alloys 225/40/18's depending on the tyre brand that you buy, the noise can vary when the tyre is newish 70%+. its all to do with the thickness and strength of the tyre walls. different brands vary. i thought this was ******** so i asked if they would put a front set of wheels on my car from one of theirs(same type of alloys,just different brand of tyres). after some humming and harring they did. and sure enough the noise was gone. it cost me £45 labour for them to do this but at least i now know exactly what was making the noise. thanks!