I've Joined The Club - The Cupping Tire Club

[Thomas Rogers]

I have noticed a whub-whub, whoosh-whoosh type noise from my front, passenger side tire while driving at around 30 to 40mph. It was getting louder. Seems that tire is cupping and the ST was due for a rotation. The vehicle has 23K miles on the original Goodyear tires.



Anyway, my dealer service rep recommended I stretch out my oil changes to 4500 miles (instead of the anal-retentive 3K that I change at now) and have the tires rotated upon each oil change.



They said this is a very well known problems with the Explorers and once the tires start cupping there's not much you can do.



Ford Quality is BONE-Job #1.



TJR

 

[Jeff C]

Did you ask if any future engine problems will be covered under warranty, since they reccomended longer intervals? Not likely anything would happen, but say the engine blows at 95k, and you bought the 100k warranty, does that give em a reason to not cover it?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I think the owner's manual say 5K miles for the oil change interval anyway, doesn't it?



TJR

 

[Bill Ellis]

Yes, oil change interval is 5,000 miles. I use the motorcraft blend and it is still very clean at 5,000 miles of service. Now to the topic. My Michelin Cross Terrains were getting noisy at 48,000 so I cross rotated them front-to-opposite-side rear, rear-to-opposite-side-front. Tire noise gone. I don't understand why but must have had something to do with the wear pattern from a particular rotation direction. Now they are rotating in the opposite direction. Oh, they look good for another 20K miles.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I got BFG tires and no cupping issues. Had the Goodyear tires and they had problems. Replaced with BFG and the problems went away.



Vehicles fault or tires fault?





Tom

 

[Matthew W]

Had similar problem ... neded an alignment with shims ... noise decreased, and we'll see about the tire wear ...

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

I'm not big on Good4Year tires. I replaced the stock OEM tires at 5K and went to BFG Muds. Not a single issue with them and they wear great.[Broken External Image]:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> Vehicles fault or tires fault?



Doesn't matter...it's Ford's fault either way!



TJR

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

I agree TJR. My OEM tires after 5K had odd wear to them.

 

[A K]

So that explains my wubb-wubb sound at 28,000 after a rotation.



The Goodyears have to go anyway. I'm nearing the mileage when they go from crappy to worthless.

 

[Ernie Longino]

I had this issue with my '01 Track. The issue is caused by the lousy stock shocks along with poor alignment. I replaced the shocks with Monroe Reflexes; the tires with BFG LongTrails and purchased an alignment job that carries a one year warranty from Tire Kingdom (I can take it to any Tire Kingdom for alignment any time I feel like it needs one).



I did all this over a year ago and so far am very happy with both the shocks and the tires.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

P.S. I replaced the OEM shocks with Rancho RSX at around 10K miles after hitting a pothole on the highway made the truck side-step about 3'. Since then the truck has been sure-footed.



TJR

 

[Ryan betts]

ok i am going to ask... what is cupping? how can you tell if your tires are cupped?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Ryan, read this...it explains it better than I can... (it's for larger tires/trailers, but the idea is the same)...

 

[Pat Freeman]

I have Michelins on my '07ST, rotated at 10k miles. They are cupping, too. They are a soft tire, tho. The BFG's I've run on my Ranger in the past were harder and didn't cup.

 

[Ryan betts]

thanks TJR!

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Same thing happened with my 04 with only about 30K miles. I didn't know there was a TSB on it and I just replaced them with Goodyear Fortera Silent Armors, which have broken in well and am enjoying them.



edit: Sorry, images didn't carry over.



Here's the TSB info:



TSB 05-11-11



06/13/05



IRREGULAR TIRE WEAR



FORD:

2003-2005 Explorer Sport Trac



ISSUE

Some 2003-2005 Explorer Sport Trac vehicles equipped with the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S, P255/70R16 109S AT OWL tire, may exhibit signs of feathering heel-toe wear on the inside or outside edges of the front tires. Tire noise may also be present during regular highway drive or when braking.



ACTION

Inspect the tires for feathering heel-toe wear. It may be necessary to rotate or replace tires and reset toe. Refer to the following Service Procedure.



SERVICE PROCEDURE











1. Visually inspect the front tire's inside and outside shoulder ribs (Figure 1).













2. Measure the difference in tread depth of the leading edge compared to trailing edge, of the most-worn lug (figure 2). If the average difference in tread depth between leading and trailing edge is less than 2 mm, rotate the tires. If the average difference is more than 2 mm, replace the front tires. Also inspect the rear tires and replace if necessary.



3. Ensure that the camber and caster readings are within specification.



4. Set the total front toe (TFT) to 0.12 +/- 0.05 degrees (nominal).



NOTE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE TOE BE SET POSITIVE TO 0.12 +/- 0.05 DEGREES (NOMINAL).



NOTE REFER TO WORKSHOP MANUAL SECTION 204-00 FOR ALIGNMENT PROCEDURES. REFER TO THE WARRANTY AND POLICY MANUAL FOR TIRE AND ALIGNMENT REIMBURSEMENT COVERAGE.



WARRANTY STATUS: Eligible Under Provisions Of New Vehicle Limited Warranty Coverage



OPERATION DESCRIPTION TIME



051111A 2003-2005 Explorer Sport 2.0 Hrs.

Trac: Inspect Tires, Check

And Adjust Front End

Alignment



051111B 2003-2005 Explorer Sport 2.1 Hrs.

Trac: Inspect Tires, Rotate

Tires, Check And Adjust

Front End Alignment



051111C 2003-2005 Explorer Sport 2.3 Hrs.

Trac: Inspect Tires,

Replace And Balance 2

Tires, Check And Adjust

Front End Alignment



051111D 2003-2005 Explorer Sport 2.7 Hrs.

Trac: Inspect Tires,

Replace And Balance 4

Tires, Check And Adjust

Front End Alignment (Do

Not Use Any Of The Labor

Operations With 1007AT,

1007AF, 1007AFT,

1007AB, 1007ABT, 1007D,

1007D3T 1007D3F,

1007D3FT, 1007D3B,

1007D3BT)



DEALER CODING

CONDITION

BASIC PART NO. CODE

FRONT (ALIGNMENT) USE WITH

OPERATION W OR "B" W6

TIRE (TIRE REPLACEMENT) USE

WITH OPERATION "C" OR "D" 30

 

[Brad Carroll]

I have an '02 trac -- got almost 70,000 miles on the original GoodYears. Went to the Falken STX/04 tires -- great looking tire -- after 8,000 miles (99% highway), they ALL were cupping. I raised heck with the guys at Discount Tire and they gave me a 95% credit for new tires. Said on these trucks, that the tires should be rotated at 5M miles - I told him that was crap as I did the GoodYears at 10,000 + and NEVER had a cupping issue. It COULD be the tires as my truck has just been aligned. New tires are great and no cupping issues at 20,000 miles.

 

[Donavan Davis]

lipTrac_511,



Thank you for the info.:wub: You saved me 603.48 cents! Ford replaced my tires with the same ones along with the alignment. I have already have reflex shocks . Yes I know the opions are strong against the RTS but I still have $603.48 to the good in my hand. It was definitely no hassle at all i printed off this info nad wnet in and Voila!4new tires.Thank you all on theis site I would have been 600 bucks lighter