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Stock JK TechBulletin board forum regarding issues with OE (original equipment) components of the Jeep JK Wrangler (Rubicon, Sahara, Unlimited and X) such as factory suspension parts, engine, transmission, body parts, interior fixtures and the on-board computer.
Hi, new to the forum. I have a 2015 Unlimited with about 60000 Km/40000 miles. Back in March during a winter storm at work a kid with a lifted older Ram was driving on a very snowy road where my Jeep was parked. His wheels caught the high part of the snow building up against the vehicles and his rear tire made contact with my front drivers tire and fender causing a $350:paint repair to my fender. The wheel itself appeared ok. I took it in for aliignment and there were no problems. The jeep drives straight with no pulling or any signs of alignment issues. I run the Hercules Trail Diggers which have a nice hum to them in the road. I’ve noticed that the drivers side wheel/tire makes a lot more road noise a louder hum. I stuck my head out the window and notice a slight very tiny wobble only at high speed. I don’t know if it’s the tire that may have been slightly dimpled near the rim or the rim itself or both. Could it be a damaged wheel bearing? What else could it be. Keep in mind the jeep runs straight as an arrow even when I let go of the steering wheel. I’m going to throw on my spare to see if it changes. If I see that slight wobble then I know something has to be bent.
Yeah, throw the spare on and see what happens. Did you actually have it put on an alignment rack when it was it?
The guy who did the alignment gave me the readings with the bill. It was a 4 wheel alignment. That’s was back in March. The reason why I’m catching it so late (back in may) windows were Always up because of the colder weather. Maybe the tire is out a bit. There is no uneven wear. You can slightly hear it in the sound of the humming. It’s not a consistent steady hum.
I’m going to get around this week sometime and install the spare. Is it possibe the wheel bearing be bent? What worries me a bit is the fact his tire pushed my wheel in to reach my fender because my tires stick out pass the fender about 1-1.5 inches, no spacers. Anyway, I’ll post back what I find.
The possibilities are bad tire, C bent from impact (would show as a camber problem on the alignment sheet), ball joint bad (would show as camber problem on alignment), wheel hub assembly (wheel bearing)... I'm sure others can list some more stuff. put the spare on first.
What worries me a bit is the fact his tire pushed my wheel in to reach my fender because my tires stick out pass the fender about 1-1.5 inches, no spacers.
The thing about the situation that stands out to me is he didn't hit it very hard if all you had to do was repaint. If he hit that plastic with any real force, you would have had to replace the full fender. So, I tend to think the idea of the truck had to impact the tire hard enough to get to the fender might be a bit flawed. I think more likely whatever on the truck that contacted the fender sat high enough it cleared most of the tire. But, idk, maybe you saw it happen, or you saw the truck so know exactly what hit it. Just saying, it doesn't take much force to break one of those fenders, or at the very least, the clips that hope em on.....or the bracket that extends out over the tire that supports the fender.
I agree, alignment specs would be the first thing to look at as anything abnormal should stand out on that. Road noise alone would be very hard to say you indeed have a problem, especially if you're not showing any sign of uneven wear.
I forgot about that bracket in the fender... yeah, like resharp001 said... if it just required a repaint, little chance this is from that. regardless, what I posted are the usual... but with no tire wear??
I ended up going for my oil change and have the tires rotated. It’s definitely the tire. I also went to the place I bought my tires from and he noticed the tire was cupping. He said the off road tires should not be really driven daily on roads. As they wear they will get louder. My question to him was why aren’t the other three cupping? So, any ideas what could cause one tire to cup? The sound is loud. Whir whir whir! That’s all u hear at higher speeds although around 30mph on certain roads it’s loud enough to get your attention.
I’ll be buying some all terrains the next time around.
Could it be just a tire gone bad? It’s a coincidence that it’s the tire that made contact with the guys tire who happens to have taller mudders. It was actually his tire that made contact with my fender. Again, my Jeep rides straight as an arrow. I currently have the tire on the rear now. Will it wear enough to stop the sound? I’ve read once that tire is shaped that way it don’t go away.
It's possible you got hit harder than originally thought, and the wheel/tire absorbed most of the impact. I've been hit in parking lots before, square in the tire, with no damage to fenders or anything, so could be he just didn't hit much other than the wheel.
What stands out to me from the original post is the wobble... something like that could only be caused by a bend in a rotating component. It would probably show up in an alignment check as the camber being off every so slightly, but wouldn't necessarily have much impact on the handling, especially if like you said it's really minor, and would definitely screw up the wear on the tire. I had a similar issue on my old TJ when I tweaked an axle shaft (but that was on the back, doesn't really apply to the front)
When you did the tire rotation, did you look for any wobble in the new front/right? It the wobble remained, it would be on the axle end, and you'll start to have the same issue soon. Those don't look like steel rims, so doesn't seem likely the wheel itself bent...
Nothing is bent. It’s a tire that is starting to cup. I’ve rotated them. Looks like I have to live with it for now. Why one tire cupped is don’t know? Especially when the 4 wheel alignment comes back within specs. The guy who did it was aware of my situation so he looked deeper. He found nothing. It rides straight A’s an arrow. I just won’t be purchasing these tires again. Mudders anyway. I’ll buy an all terrain instead. For now, I’ll keep an eye on it.
06-24-2018, 05:17 AM
Wheel/tire issue
