[Foxy]

If you've been reading my drivel about the few faults with my Mk5, you'll have noted that i've listed one of them as "wheel bearing noise"........

Now, the Tech at the dealer is a good egg, but will not diagnose this as wheel bearing noise........he even agreed that it sounds like that's the problem.

It's been there twice now, and each time, he says "it's the MODIFIED wheels/tyres"........

Suggests I try the original wheels back on, to eliminate this possibility.........pah!

I told him that the wheels are Votex (ie VW OEM accessories) and the tyres are the cream of the crop (Goodyear F1 GSD3).

This noise was never appent with my Mk4 wearing the same rubber, nor the current car during the first 6-8k on the clock......

The noise was barely apparent but is now pee-ing me right off........i've "tuned in" to it and that's about ALL i can now hear when driving.

It's starting to spoil my enjoyment of the drive.......

So, has ANYONE else had this kind of issue and also what else should I do to persuade said Tech?

1) Lie and say I tried other rims but made no difference [ problem: i) I don't like lying ii) If they find out it's tyres I may get charged ]
2) Try other rims [ problem: i) I don't have any ii) I don't want to - it's not my job to diagnose problems ]
3) Insist THEY diagnose [ problem: same as 1) ]
4) Take it elsewhere [ problem: I don't have the time ]
5) Get the bearings changed and contra-charge VW [ problem: they will laugh too much at the idea ]

So, what d'ya do ?

 

[PaulGT]

have one of the tyres flatspotted or worn unevenly? could make it sound funny! swap the wheel with one on the other side and see if the noise follows too! []

 

[W36 EJO]

I had a bulge in one of my tyres once and that caused a humming noise, a bit like a wheel bearing noise when I was going along the road. Probably not much help, but maybe worth just checking.

 

[KeithM]

When I pick up the door cards I can bring the 16" wheels I took off when the BBS rims arrived. We can try those if you wish, or try my BBS rims.

Regards

KeithM

 

[dubzter]

I had a very similar experience with my R32, one of the rear tyres was faulty and the inner edge ended up looking like a 50p. It didn't make itself apparent until the tyre was well worn. That was on the original tyres.

To me it sounds very like this sort of problem.

 

[simch]

Is it front or back Jon?

If its front, it would be prety rare to be a wheel bearing, they normally last for 100k or so. Rears no so, they can fail sooner.

But it may be just an unbedded in tyre. If its rear, move the rear tyres to the front, and go out and scrub em in well. Racing trick I used to use was to reverse at about twice walking speed then while still rolling back, engaged 1st gear , big revs and drop the clutch!! Spins them up well and is very easy to break traction even with massive tyres.

A couple of black lines later, and tyres are well scrubbed in!

 

[PJ]

Jon,

Any chance after your 'ring' exploits it could be brake pad/disk worn unevenly? Perhaps the pad is rubbing on the inside of the disc if it's worn.

 

[Foxy]

Thanks so far.......

The noise was beginning to become apparent just around Jan 05.

I have just had all the tyres removed and transferred to the BBS's.
During the swap, the tyre guys inadvertantly switched the two rear tyres around....but correctly maintianing their directionality.

The noise is around the same volume and characteristics as before.

I've had brake binding/touching noises on other cars and this doesn't sound like it.

It DOES sound like its from the rear wheel(s).

When I snake the car up the road, the noise drops to almost nothing when pulling sharply right to left but not left to right.

 

[TouranMan]

When I snake the car up the road, the noise drops to almost nothing when pulling sharply right to left but not left to right.

Certainly sounds like a wheel bearing to me Jon. I'm assuming you told that to the Tech?

 

[Foxy]

Well, i didn't try that snaking move until after i last saw him.........

I have even listened carefully over changes in road surface.......no fecking way is it tyre noise !

 

[flynntech]

Jon,

Why dont you change the bearing yourself and forget about VW at this
stage. You have spent enough time with them over it? How much is a
bearing? 30-40 quid?

 

[M5LLO]

I had exactly the same noise with my last car ,and it only appeared when i swaped the tyres from rear to front

the tyres in question were Toyo T1S and yes they were a very noisy tyre from day 1 ,but not half as bad as when rotated!!!!

hope this helps

 

[Stephen B]

agree to the dealer option of trying original tyres, but only if he puts yours on a brand new GT TDI for a proper comparison []

is rear tracking not worth looking at ?, I always get my cars front and rear alignment checked after its 1st year to see if any settling has occured

 

[JON_XL]

The tech at my dealers noted this just after i had a weekend of spirted driving, the car apparently had lots of other peoples rubber left on my rear tyres the fronts had scrubbed themselves clean, suggested a front to back swop couple of hundred miles and swop them back as the rubber would be worn away. Did the trick!

He also mentioned something about high brake wear and how unusual to see a car having drop links replaced at 5,000 miles obviously a factory fault.

 

[Foxy]

This is my original post to that tyre noise one i posted over the weekend..........

 

[Subira]

I had the same problem. Asked the stealer to check it out - he said uneven tyre wear. I put a replacement set of wheels on (top stuff from Foxy) and hey presto no drumming, no vibration.

Looking at the rear tyres once I had them off, the tread blocks have worn unevenly - leaving about 30% of the inside tread blocks raised higher than the others, effectively the tyre is no longer round, but a serious of flat spots. Not surprising that it created the drumming and vibration, surprised it wasn't worse.

I have had this happen with the same make of tyre before on a different car, so have emailed their Customer Service, who have responded almost immediately that all tyres are warranted for manufacturing defects for 5 years, so get them back through a tyre dealer or wholesaler for evaluation.

Lets see what they say?

 

[ukdub]

I had exactly the same noise with my last car ,and it only appeared when i swaped the tyres from rear to front

the tyres in question were Toyo T1S and yes they were a very noisy tyre from day 1 ,but not half as bad as when rotated!!!!

hope this helps

Same with me on a set of conti sport contacts

 

[stokeballoon]

Jon,

I had a very similar problem on the G/f's car, a Focus TDCI. I said wheel bearing, he said tyre wear, and so it went on. She who must be obeyed needed 2 new rear tyres after a while, the rears were getting down toward the legal limit, and hey presto! the noise went! I had a look at the removed tyres, and they both had what is called " a Saw-tooth" wear profile on the inner edges, this was causing the droning, so now i hang my stubborn head in shame at the local Stealers!! The raised and jagged inner edge was the snag, they were good tyres too, Bridgestones.

SB

 

[Foxy]

Seems to be the way if your car has any kind of negative camber, and you're running wide tyres with a modern tread pattern.....crazy!

 

[legend]

Hi guys,

I seem to be having exactly the same problem as Foxy had detailed in his original message. I have chatted to him about this but any further feedback, advice, thoughts or experiences you guys can offer would be VERY much appreciated.

I have a 2005 Mk5 2.0 GT TDI equipped with non-standard, 18"x8" RS4 style alloys. Tyres are Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 XL's. Suspension is standard OEM setup.

I have covered a good few thousand miles and up until recently had no problems (not in the tyre dept anyway!).

Recently I have started to experience the whole 'noise' thing and the car just not feeling quite right. Upon closer inspection, the nearside rear has worn totally unevenly on the inner edge. Flat spots here, there and everywhere! However, the offside rear tyre seems to be generally ok though. Overall, they both still have approx 6mm of tread left on them (obviously patchy in places though). Both front tyres appear to be fine with even wear throughout.

I've spoken to Jon about it and apart from the fact that he had a set of Eibach (-30mm) springs on his car pretty much everything is the same. Exact same tyre, same noise, same type of wear etc.

The car has had a basic 4 Wheel Alignment check not long ago and was bang on. However, it is getting checked out again on a superior rig which is able to check camber, toe etc as well. If the settings are out then hopefully this will help to solve the problem. If the settings are actually ok then I may have to just deal with the fact that putting these alloys on this car is going to shorten the life of at least one rear tyre! Not ideal. Unfortunately, whatever happens I'm going to have to replace the rear tyres now.

1) Jon suggested that because of their unique pattern the Goodyears might be making a bad situation worse and it might be worth trying a different set of tyres completely (front and rear). Pros... a different brand might not suffer half as bad. Cons... I know roughly how many miles this rear set has done before having this problem. So if I put another pair of F1's on I can tell whether the problem is better, worse or the same by waiting to see when - or if - the problem returns. Any thoughts?

3) Is this likely to be a problem that has been there since the car was new but has taken for the tyres to reach a certain point / tread depth before it's effects were exaggerated? Or what could have made this problem suddenly occur recently?

4) Same wheels and same tyres on each corner of the same car... why is only one tyre effected? Dubzter said he had a very similar experience with his R32 - one of his rear tyres was faulty and ended up looking like a 50p. Could it be a faulty tyre?... Or is that just wishful thinking!

If you can help in any way people - please do! Thanks very much in advance.

PS. Sorry for the essay-like post.