hey all!!! i have had my tribute for about 3 years now, an 06 that i bought new. For a while now, i have had a lot of road noise that i hear, have had it for a while, but i guess kind of got used to it. I recently had new tires put on cause it turns out that i had cup wear on the tires, which is def. one cause of the road noise. So i got the new tires, and just today took it in for an allignment. NOW, to me, when i got the new tires, it was like night and day as far as the road noise goes. I pretty much thought that it was completely gone. but when the service guy took it for a test drive before he did the allignment, he said that there was a lot of road noise and asked me if it has always been like that. He did the allignment and checked the bearings and siad that they were fine. and that the car is in great mechanical condition. which then leads me here to the forum and to see everyones replies. So in general, car is in great condition, tires are new and allignment is good too. the noise is no where near what it used to be, but just wondering if anyone else has the same "road" noise that i do. Thanks!!!!

 

I have the same problem, the new tires I put on my car have a more aggressive tread pattern and are made of a harder compound then stock. It sucks because the noise is embarrassing! I have to live with it because the tires are to expensive to replace because of noise, I wouldn't sell these tires to anybody!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Interesting...I was just asked by the guy who did the alignment today if the other tires that i had were as aggressive as the new ones i had put on??? the new ones are identical to the ones i had on there....but i guess with this type of vehicle you want somewhat aggressive tires no?
well thanks for your input....i think that more of the posts are going to be the same....and actually thats ok....my main issue...is if there is something wrong i want to find it and fix it....if not and thats just the way it is, i can totally accept it....

 

I had the same issue of cupped tires on my 2002 years ago. I replaced them after 24,000 miles and, like you noticed, it was night and day. I thought I had bearing issues at first but the dealership pointed out the tires instead.

I bought a set of Futura tires at Pep Boys here in Annapolis MD. They have lasted for nearly 50,000 miles and still have plenty of tread left. I get them rotated and balanced about once a year and do not remember any alignment since the tire purchase.

If you do not think you have much road noise but a mechanic does, perhaps you should try to compare your Tribute against other SUVs. I know that my SUV is always a bit noisier than my sedans, but the tire tread is different and the width wider as well. I also have a 4WD V6.