Loud Noise In Car At High Speeds

I was just wondering if you might have any idea in this issue I’ve been having with my bad.  I bought a Cadillac STS in February of this year,  about a could days after having the car I hit a pot hole which dented my rim and damaged the this in my right front.

I had the rim replaced as well as the tire yet ever since then I’ve been getting a loud almost humming/hollow noise whenever I’m driving past I would say 40 mph it sounds like a truck. . I still have this problem haven’t had a chance nor the money to see about getting it fixed.

Also, when the car is idling its pretty quite. . Any thoughts or ideas on what this noise could be? !

Hi there

I think I would rotate the tires front to back and see if the noise goes away or quiets down. You might have an issue with a tire or the new tire that is causing the noise. If things stay the same you might have done more damage than you can see and I would get a 4 wheel alignment to make sure there is nothing else bent that will cause problems later or or wear out your new tire.

Take your hand, palm facing down and rub it on the top tread of each tire, across (inside to outside) and along the tread (noon to 9 noon to 3 positions on a clock). You should not feel any high or low spots on the tread itself, it should be fairly smooth and uniform in wear.

Any high spots, missing tread, bubbles, cupped or chopped tread that you feel in your hand you will hear inside the vehicle and usually feel a vibration in your seat at freeways speeds. Want to know how and why those high and chopped parts on the tread got there in the first place and what to do about it?

I made this video about tire wear, and problems that come with unusual wear patterns which is what I think is going on with your vehicle.

Now, since we are talking about tires let’s take a minute to talk about them.

Not all tire are created equal, although they might look the same and probably contain the same ingredients. Cheaper lesser known brand names are….well, cheaper. You MIGHT get a good set of tires that last you 30K miles and then again you might not. If your goal is “stay on budget” or you are going to replace the vehicle soon, it might be a good option for you.

Now, brand name tires, even those have flaws and defects. I just bought a set of Yokohoma tires for my wife’s mini van and they are usually very good tires and they are NOT cheap. But, the set that I bought was junk, some kind of internal tread defect that caused a shimmy that bugged the heck out of me.

I switched out those tires for Michelin and the problem went away. So just because you have new tires, and just because they were expensive and a top brand name does not mean they are perfect. If you have a shimmy or vibration and you are sure it is tire related (not an alignment or structural issue with the vehicle) don’t just assume the new tires can not be the source of the vibration…they can.

BTW, I am only buying Michelin tires from now on

A great website to learn about tires and to buy them online and have them shipped to your repair shop is TireRack.com

Incidentally I did not show a worn out tire in my video that is due to improper alignment. Here is a good example of a tire that is worn on the outer edge, caused by an alignment issue. Click to enlarge.

Since we are talking about tires have you seen the new concept tire by Michelin called the Tweel?

Please share this with your friends
Austin Davis