Tires: road noise due to tires, alignment specs, road noise

Question
I have a 2003 Tribute 2WD 6 cylinder SUV-have noticed cupping has
creeped into freeway driving in last 10-15K miles(I have 50K on OEM
Continental tires   235/70R16  104T). Have read that Tributes seems to
have more than their fair share of this cupping problem and, hence,
some heavy duty road noise. I am ready to buy some new tires - have
you heard of this problem from others or am I crazy and, if you have
heard from others, what would be some alternatives to the OEM
Continentals so as to kill off most of this problem. My driving is normal
Houston, TX driving - freeways to and from work plus city driving - very
little long distance driving and vehicle used for light duty(fencing,
dogs,etc) - no towing,etc.

Answer
Dan,

If you developed cupping, then there is some sort of mechanical situation.  So you need to look at your alignment, and make sure you do regular rotations, and, of couse, keep enough air pressure in your tires.

However, if you neglected any of those, 40K out of the original set is pretty good.

BTW, alignment specs are pretty wide, and IMHO, "In Spec" isn't good enough.  The vehicle has to be within the middle half of the tolerance.  Otherwise you get wear issues just like you described.

So I don't think the problem was the tires, it was your alignment, and unless you fix that, 40K from now you will  be back where you are now.