Hi all, just looking for some advice or suggestions here.

I put new tyres on the Superb back in January 2019, changing from 16" to 17" wheels at same time.  All has been OK since then and as they are now about half worn I recently decided to swap them front to back to even out wear.

Not long after this I realised that the car was a little more noisy than usual and a little vibrarion was felt through the steering wheel, however what really got my attention was when I was moving slowly, at around 12 MPH in a smooth car park I suddenly got a very significant noise, like a Thud-thud-thud sound from the passenger side, so bad I thought the wheel was about to fall off.  Got out and checked it can't see any problem.

Carried on driving and it was back to normal, seems whatever is wrong kind of resonates at this speed.

 

Found it hard to believe it could be tyres but swapped over to my 16" wheels on the front to test and car is suddenly much better at all speeds, I obviously hadn't realised how bad it had become.

 

I've had both front wheels spun up and checked for balance and runout, small out of balance which i got corrected but no runout.  Put the wheels back on, still bad as ever.

I can only assume the issue is a problem with the internals of the tyre (on sign of damage externally), I'm obviously not happy about this as they are not  cheap and cheerful tyres, Michelin Cross-climate and have never been mis-treated (I never park against of partly no a kerb or run into kerbs), never hit any extreme pot holes or anything else which could cause the problem.

 

Anyone had anythign similar or any ideas what the cause may be?

 

Now I'm wondering what to do next.  Should I put this down to experience, replace the tyres and just not ever buy Michelin again or should I try and pursue a claim?  Has anybody had any joy with warranty claims for tyres?

 

 

@Gdcobra

 

How many miles covered before you changed the wheels / tyres front to rear?

Your cars rear suspension might well have the tyres mis-shaped.

 

Was the place doing the balancing a Michelin dealer / Supplier?

 

You need a reason to pursue a claim.   So follow what Michelin will say about claims on a website. 

That will involve going to a Michelin Dealership to have the tyres inspected.

That means them coming off the rims.

 

 

5 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

@Gdcobra

 

How many miles covered before you changed the wheels / tyres front to rear?

Your cars rear suspension might well have the tyres mis-shaped.

 

Was the place doing the balancing a Michelin dealer / Supplier?

 

You need a reason to pursue a claim.   So follow what Michelin will say about claims on a website. 

That will involve going to a Michelin Dealership to have the tyres inspected.

That means them coming off the rims.

 

 

Good point, should have mentioned the mileage, I'd have to look at my records but I think it's around 15-18,000.

I measured the depth when I removed them and they were around 5mm which to me is around 50% worn.

 

My reason for wanting a claim is that tyres should not cause this kind of problem even if they are down to the limit.

I guess by a Michelin dealer you mean any tyre shop which sell Michelin tyres?

 

The next thing I was going to do was put the drivers side wheel back on and see it that is OK and issue just on passenger side.

Edited 2 December, 20205 yr by Gdcobra

Contact Michelin UK in writing and see what they say.  But really it is the place that you bought the tyres at and had them fitted that you should deal with first.

 

The tyre needs inspected to see why there is an issue.

 

Michelin promises to refund vehicle operators for accidental damage before a tyre is 50 percent worn.  Or so i read. Maybe just Buses and HGV.s

Wear and tear if the cars suspension alignment is out is not accidental damage.

There is stuff about warranties from Michelin or from suppliers of Michelin tyres.

 

I have 2 cars with Michelin CrossClimates on and have had them in the past, i also have Michelin Winter tyres on another.

CrossClimates are not commonly having faults or issues.

 

The rear end of Skoda Superbs are known for some having issues with tyres.

Edited 2 December, 20205 yr by e-Roottoot

I've had exactly the same problem on a pair of 15" crossclimates (original not the plus version) I fitted about 4 years ago, which suddenly became very noisy doing the thud thud thud noise when turning and manoeuvering in car parks. Never experienced this on any other make/model of tyre before or after. 

 

Have no real idea how it happened, but it may have been associated with the dealer rebuilding the suspension after a gearbox repair and steering rack change as it became obvious shortly afterwards.

 

Dealer blamed the tyres saying they were misshapen. Indeed I could see isolated patches of the tyre where the tread was visibly thinner than the rest, which explained the thud, thud, thud. Never thought about complaining to Michelin as I assumed something stupid had been done by the dealer in the 2-3 weeks they had the car.

 

Now I make a point in avoiding directional tyres, I like the Vredestein Quattrac 5 which I am very satisfied with.

 

Edited 2 December, 20205 yr by xman

2 minutes ago, xman said:

Now I make a point in avoiding directional tyres, I like the Vredestein Quattrac 5 which I am very satisfied with.

 

 

And you can swap the Vredestein Quatrac5 's from side to side to stop the sawtooth inner edge appearing and creating a noise.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

1 minute ago, AGFalco said:

 

And you can swap the Vredestein Quatrac5 's from side to side to stop the sawtooth inner edge appearing and creating a noise.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

Exactly my thinking, and is suitable as a spare for any position.

Yes, I use them as my winter tyres down here in the south, and also have a full sized spare which also gets used/rotated.

 

Last big amount of snow we had down here I drove in to snow deep enough to lift the front of the car off the ground, stopping forward motion.

Just turned the wheels sideways and reversed out.

 

The same day I had a Range Rover try to keep up with me on my way home from work.

He ended going up a grass bank after one corner.

He only had summer tyres on the car. A 4x4 will help you go but don't help you stop or turn as he found out.

 

 

Thanks. AG Falco

10 hours ago, xman said:

I've had exactly the same problem on a pair of 15" crossclimates (original not the plus version) I fitted about 4 years ago, which suddenly became very noisy doing the thud thud thud noise when turning and manoeuvering in car parks. Never experienced this on any other make/model of tyre before or after. 

 

Have no real idea how it happened, but it may have been associated with the dealer rebuilding the suspension after a gearbox repair and steering rack change as it became obvious shortly afterwards.

 

Dealer blamed the tyres saying they were misshapen. Indeed I could see isolated patches of the tyre where the tread was visibly thinner than the rest, which explained the thud, thud, thud. Never thought about complaining to Michelin as I assumed something stupid had been done by the dealer in the 2-3 weeks they had the car.

 

Now I make a point in avoiding directional tyres, I like the Vredestein Quattrac 5 which I am very satisfied with.

 

That's interesting, the noise was so bad on mine that I found it hard to believe it was the tyre(s), thought I had a gearbox dropping out or something, but switch the tyres over and the car's perfect.

Has to be at a very exact speed though, around 12MPH, above or below and the noise is reduced and more constant.

 

Edited 3 December, 20205 yr by Gdcobra

3 hours ago, Gdcobra said:

thought I had a gearbox dropping out or something,

 

Indeed going down the motorway to Birmingham they became so loud I thought that the differential was broken again. I was preparing to blast both barrels at my dealer again but decided to change the tyres over from one of our other carsto check and  the noise disappeared.

 

One theory I have was that the dealer, after refitting my gearbox and rebuilding all the front suspension, fitted the tyres on the wrong sides (so rotating in the wrong direction for a directional tyre) and then went off on a spirited test drive and damaged them. When I went to pick the car up they had swapped the crossclimates to the back from the front and when asked why they told me they were misshaped. Strange as the car and tyres were perfect and super quiet before it went in for what was supposed to be a simple warranty repair (long,long story.....they somehow broke the gearbox while changing the steering rack after several track rods under warranty had all failed in the previous 18 months). But I had had a super stressful time battling the dealer and Skoda uk over this sorry saga and so left it at that.

 

After a couple of weeks I moved the crossclimates back to the front where the were originally and thats when the problems became apparent.

 

Disappointed in the crossclimates, they do wear extremely slowly but with this unexplained phenomenon and premature compound cracking in the grooves which I've also noticed on previous Michelin Energys I'm not inclined to use them again.

 

 

 

I had tyre sawing on the back thinking it was wheels bearings.

so I thought I’d put them on front thinking I’d scrub the high spots off. But 1st drive was horrendous, the noise/vibration it was making.

Ended up two new tyres

4 hours ago, Snapper1725 said:

so I thought I’d put them on front

 

So long a they are not directional I would always try swapping them from side to side, or even diagonally.

I rotate my tyres twice a year and go for new tyres to the rear and the old rears going diagonally to the front.

 

Thanks, AG Falco