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Noisy tires after rotation. Suggestions needed.

8K views 43 replies 15 participants last post by  Lakeman1 
#1 ·
Hello. Still a Jeep newb and looking for wisdom to help me understand some schtuff.

I have 32" BFG KMs, as standard on my Willy's that I bought used in December. Now at 15,000k, I got the tires rotated. Looks like they had never been rotated before and were riding a little uneven. Now, the ride is smoother, but is very noisy on the road over 30mph. Why is it noisier now? More tread up front?

Haven't been off road yet, but do plan on it. So, would like to keep these tires. However, I'm open to swapping them out.

It is my daily driver. What would you do in my position?
 
#16 ·
Nittos, Toyos, etc. do the same. Don't rotate, they'll get noisy.

Does anyone use a five tire rotation pattern? If, as the Owners Manual says "Any difference in tire size can cause damage to the transfer case." why does the manual only show a four tire rotation pattern? Seems to me, if I only rotate four tires and find myself in need of using the spare, it's going to be a different size.
Couple of ways to do it. Here's what I use in my 37" Nitto Trail Grapplers for the past 3 years no issues whatsoever.

 
#4 · (Edited)
You are starting a new wear pattern on your tires. Mine were always noisy after the rotation and then quieted back down after about 500 to 1000 miles.

I finally sold mine with about 20,000 miles on them. Bought new Nitto Ridge Grapplers. One of the best decisions that I ever made. Much smoother ride, and very quiet.
 
#5 ·
Ok. Thank you Old Dogger. That makes sense. That's a good reason to burn some rubber.

I've been trying to find a good pressure to run them at, too. 34 seems good. Not the 38psi that the tire place put in!

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#6 ·
I never rotate my tires, I keep everything aligned and watch them. Things like you are having and if they keep taking your wheels off and back on gives a much better chance of damaging them. I just keep them away from my Jeep and my wheels. I have never rotated tires on any vehicle, when I get them running smooth I don't screw with them. Just stay the hell away from my Jeep.
 
#11 ·
I assume you don't have oem mud tires
 
#7 ·
Surely you'll get through tires a lot quicker if you don't rotate them? Even a well aligned and balanced ride will still have more load up front. How do you allow for that?

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#8 ·
I rotated the BFG M/T's on my '14 Willys every 5k miles and they would make noise for about 500 miles or until they wore back down. That tires is notorious for doing that.

15,000 miles since rotation, might take you a little longer to even out though.
 
#9 ·
Once you dump the OEM tires and get something better, you'll wonder why you waited so long. I gave up on mine after 34,000mi and switched to 285/70/17 Duratracs on stock wheels with 1.75" spacers.

I must say I was shocked by the improvement in ride, handling and noise. Not to mention how much better they look!

Yes, they are certainly heavier than the OEM tires. Yes, they have a slight negative impact on MPG. Be sure you aren't using the dash computer MPG calculation though, as taller tires will obviously throw that calculation off. Always hand calculate MPG results.

(2015 JK WW)
 
#10 ·
on the OEM mud tires, you want to rotate every 3K miles to avoid uneven wear.
MY first set I waited to 5K and the front tires had cupping. My secod and third sets I have been rotating every 3K with no issues.
In your case, I hope they did not introduce the spare tire into the rotation, it would be late to do at 15K...
If they didn't introduce the 5th tire, just keep on driving and eventually you will create a smooth wear pattern but keep rotations at 3K or you will create more issues down the road.
 
#12 ·
Great information. Thank you, folks. I will continue to drive to develop even wear, and rotate every 3k from here on. Noted that it will take longer to get this new config worn evenly because of the extra uneven wear from them not being rotated before (thanks, previous owner!). Fortunately, the spare was not included in the rotation.

Want to spend some $$ on other mods before new tires, so will persevere. When it's time to upgrade, I'll be sure to splurge.
 
#15 ·
Tire rotation

Does anyone use a five tire rotation pattern? If, as the Owners Manual says "Any difference in tire size can cause damage to the transfer case." why does the manual only show a four tire rotation pattern? Seems to me, if I only rotate four tires and find myself in need of using the spare, it's going to be a different size.
 
#35 ·
Does anyone use a five tire rotation pattern? If, as the Owners Manual says "Any difference in tire size can cause damage to the transfer case." why does the manual only show a four tire rotation pattern? Seems to me, if I only rotate four tires and find myself in need of using the spare, it's going to be a different size.
I would not think if you used a five the dirrerence would be anywhere close to causing a problem.
 
#17 ·
I do the five tire rearward cross like in the picture above at every oil change. They're noisy for a little while, but go back to normal after a week or so. I've got about 40,000 on mine and they probably have another 20,000 left in them. The KMs do great rock crawling and in everything but deep mud. I air them down to 15 to 20 psi when crawling. If you install KO2s or any other more highway oriented tire, they'll be much quieter. Any big void and tread block tire is going to be noisy.

I have 34x10.5-17 KO2s (33" measured height) on another set of wheels and with my soft top jeep they ride a lot quieter and smoother.
 
#22 ·
Yes noisy and a crummy ride. I have never rotated tires on any vehicle I have owned. Keep everything in alignment, be meticulous about air pressure (weekly if needed) and you'll be fine. If you rotate them yourself it's a pain in the ass if you don't your wheels and lugs will get beat to shit (every oil change!), and god knows what else. The air pressure will NOT be correct so when you get home you'll need to check it, but only after it cools down, that won't take long when it's 95* outside. What time do you have to go to work? I think I'll rotate mine every oil change , that's 4000-5000.
 
#24 ·
So, on the subject of keeping a close eye on tire pressure, I get variances of up to 6psi, depending on the weather. Plus, discount tire put x amount in, and my dash read 4psi more. My home compressor is closer to the dash reading.

That makes it kinda tricky on getting the numbers down. So, I've decided that it's just like the number on the scale... it's just a number. It's a balance between how it feels on the ride, and mpg that gets me closer to where I should be.

Probably should be another thread, but what's your secret for finding your psi sweet spot, on and off road?

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#25 ·
The best I found is a truckers air gage at a truckers parts place. Only about 16 bucks. I got it form my motorhome and now use it on everything but the HD. I don't even look at what the monitor says. You will have to adjust for temperature changes of any significance. The colder the more air you add and warmer let some out. As I said don't let people like that air up your tires, a waste of time.
 
#37 ·
My grandson has a jacked up pickup with oversized and wide tires that have an aggressive tread pattern. One thing I have noticed is with big wide tires with an aggressive tread will ware like hell on the outer edge of the front tires and ware like hell in general. He uses good tires I can't imagine what cheap one would do! Talk about noise, now I know why he has a sound system that will damn blow out the windshield.
 
#41 ·
They're not inflated right or there's something going on with his alignment. I have 37" Trail Grapplers with even "ware" across all 5 and am pushing 40K on them.
 
#40 ·
Seeing that 90%+ of the Wranglers sold never see hard-core off-roading, the decision to make the M/T tires standard on so many versions is a terrible one, IMO. I use my '15 JK WW as my daily commuter (~~2,500mi per month) and those tires had me pulling out my hair.

There's no excuse for OEM tires that need rotating every 5k miles (or less!), to perform reasonably well! I expect to rotate my new Duratracs @ every other oil change ---- 15k miles. I'll bet dollars to donuts that they perform well with that strategy.
 
#42 ·
There's no excuse for OEM tires that need rotating every 5k miles (or less!), to perform reasonably well! I expect to rotate my new Duratracs @ every other oil change ---- 15k miles. I'll bet dollars to donuts that they perform well with that strategy.
You would be wrong! My Duratracs wore poorly due to me trying to go 8k-10k between rotations. At 35k miles are so, they were so damned loud, I couldn't stand them anymore. In my experience, they were just as sensitive to rotations as the stock KMs, and when they start to get loud, it was a higher pitched more annoying sound.

Duratracs start out quiet, and you might get 50k out of them if you can deal with the noise, but they were just as bad as any mud terrain I have ever owned once they got some miles on them. I have ran KO, Duratrac, KM, KM2, and various other tires. The Duratacs were the tires I liked the least.
 
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