QuestionQUESTION: Barry...this is a great website. My wife has a RAV4/2005 with about 48K. It was quiet when we bought it but within the past year the tires make a medium loud singing noise sort of like going over a steel grate bridge. It gets louder when we slow down and the frequency gets much lower in resonance. Driving is a mix of interstate and local city. I did determine there is some over-inflation wear but rotations have been about every 6000. My wife wants new tire for the sake of the noise. What is your take and do you think the rubber is getting hard after only two years? Thanks a lot.
ANSWER: Michael,
It's possible that it isn't tires - something mechanical like CV joints.
But tires is easy to diagnose. You've already indicated you have overinflation wear, but does rotating the tires change the noise. If it is tires, it ought to!
Tires will develop irregular wear if the vehicle is even slightly misaligned. BTW at 48K your tires should be pretty close to worn out. So it might be best if you got an alignment - lived with it for a few thousand miles to see if the noise gets better.
Also, Rav 4's are noted for their road noise. Be sure you haven't changed routes or the paving folks have been at work.
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QUESTION: Barry, thanks for the input. It sounds like I need to have Toyota diagnose the CV joints first, have an alignment done second (or at least checked) and then proceed to buy new tires. One or two have about 1/16 left on the center tread due to over-inflation. We need new tires anyway but if I don't check the CV joints then the problem may repeat itself. Do you agree? Thanks again.
AnswerMichael,
The one thing I forgot to mention is checking the tire pressure.
Every vehicle sold in the US has a vehicle placard that will list the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size.
How do these 2 figures compare against what you are running?
