Ticking noise

[lvmci]

Might be a crack in the wheel, there's tremendous pressure on the front wheels...

[chessie4905]

I haven't ever experienced a clicking noise from a bad wheel bearing. Low pitched whine sort of noise. Now bad cv joints will click on turns.... That leaves your coach out.

[DoubleEagle]

Did you check the tire for rocks or embedded metal?

[richard5933]

Did you check the tire for rocks or embedded metal?

On my list of suspects...

I did check quickly and pulled out a large chunk of gravel when I pulled into the shop's lot, but it's hard to imagine that it stayed in there for a few miles. They'll do a more thorough inspection for me when the tire is off for the hub service.

In the end, getting the hub serviced is a good thing, so I'm not upset. Just darned impatient.

Wish I had the facility and strength to do more of this stuff myself...

[DoubleEagle]

The right size sharp rock can not only lodge between the ribs, but also penetrate the rubber enough to hold it for some time. Just like getting a bolt driven in, even if it is not sharp.

[Jim Blackwood]

Been some pretty amazing things driven through tires. I used to run a truck with big off road tires and they were forever picking up gravel. That ticking noise was a Frequent Flier, but the right screw or nail can do it too. Best to find it and get rid of it before it causes a leak.

Jim

[richard5933]

Wouldn't that be the epitome of ironic...

On the way out of the tire dealer's lot, after getting a clean bill of health on the tires, to pick up something that ruins a perfectly good tire.

If that's the case, then I know where my next stop will be - back to get those new front tires.

[richard5933]

Update...

The best the tech at the shop can figure is the large piece of gravel I pulled out of the tire's tread when I got to their parking lot was the culprit. Hard to believe it caused such a ruckus, but he can find absolutely nothing else to even be suspicious of.

I've got to say, they are extremely thorough at Interstate - at least this tech is. He is meticulously cleaning the threads on all the studs and all the surface rust on the hubs before putting things back together. Same with the bearings and all hub surfaces. New seals will be installed behind the bearings.

Here are a couple of photos showing the work in progress. If you look at the close-up of the air bag, you can see the spot on the rubber where the edge of the tire has made contact in the past. Looks worse in the photo than it really is, as the flash caught the shiny spot. The noise I heard when this happened, however, was not the tire hitting the air bag - it was the tire rubbing on the plate just above the air bag.

If you look at the mounting plate you'll see two dark smudges - there are corresponding rub marks on the inside of the tire, one at the edge of the tread and one at the widest part of the tire's bulge. Neither spot is bad, but it's obvious that contact was made. I was going about 2 mph when this happened in a parking lot last season. We talked about having them grind the plate a bit so it wouldn't make contact with the tire, but that would mean that if I did this again there would be nothing there to protect the airbag. Decision was made to leave it be and for me to be careful in parking lots till the tires are swapped. Other than this, the tires look great so I'm going to soldier on this season.

[pabusnut]

I pulled a piece of glass out of a tire on my VW jetta, but it was too late.
The next morning the tire was completely flat, and I got it fixed, but they had to put a patch on the inside--a plug wouldn't do it!

I didn't think a piece of glass would stay in, let alone puncture through a nearly brand new tire!

Steve

[opus]

A great deal of my driving is on gravel.  I've only had that happen dozens of times.  Rocks can hand on for a lotta miles.

[luvrbus]

A great deal of my driving is on gravel.  I've only had that happen dozens of times.  Rocks can hand on for a lotta miles.

Not if I am behind you they end up in my windsheilds  so far 3 windsheilds and 1 side window this year from the sex stones

[Fred Mc]

Our driveway is gravel so with tires that have bigger grooves (like on the bus or truck) this happens a couple of times a week. The key is that the noise varies with the speed of the vehicle.

[chessie4905]

That's the trouble with tires with lots of tread. This doesn't happen if you run them at 4/32 of tread.

[Jim Blackwood]

We should be like racers and have our tires shaved?

Jim

[Oonrahnjay]

We should be like racers and have our tires shaved?  Jim 

     I was thinking "slicks"!