...is the sound my truck makes as I'm driving down the road. The tires are pretty worn and I thought they were the culprit for a while now. Iwill be replacing the tires before winter, but I was wondering if this sound might be an alignment issue or something else? Anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance...

Edit: The noise is at all speeds and the truck doesn't "pull" exceptionally hard either way when I let go of the steering wheel when going straight. Sounds more like a tread thing at a guess, the tires are the original Goodyears with 54K on them.

 

Does the speed of the sound increase and decrease as the speed increases and decreases? If so, it is most likely tires. I would check your tire pressure to make sure that they are adequately inflated as well. Sometimes this type of sound can come from under-inflation. Under-inflation causes high levels of undue heat and sidewall stress to the tire (NOT GOOD AT ALL). This can cause belts inside the tire to seperate from the rubber basically causing the tire to become very unstable (kinda like jello) which can lead to blow out, inability to balance the tire, severe depressions and bubbles in the sidewall, tires will not wear properly etc etc.

What kind of tires are you running on the truck now? Some just make that loud sound because of the way the tread strikes the pavement. Usually when this is the case it gets louder and increases in speed the faster you go.

My advice would be check tire pressure on all tires, look for flat spots, check for even treadwear, look for excessive depressions, check for bulges of any size. If you find any of these definitely take corrective action asap. You can also give the tire a swift kick right where tread and sidewall meet to see if the tire has any belts broken in the sidewall (again it will jiggle kinda like jello if this is the case). Just make sure you have adequate pressure in the tires since under-inflation will cause a similar effect when the tire is kicked.

 

Thanks for the response.

The tires are the Goodyears that I believe came stock.

The drivers front tire has a nail right at the edge of the tread but it holds air just fine. I've checked the tires and they are set right at 35#. If it was a continuous drone I wouldn't worry, but like I said its wagawagawaga instead of waaaaaaaaaaaa (sorry to get so technical).

I will be replacing the tires before winter, I was just wondering if there might be another explanation or problem I should fix before I spend $600 plus on tires.

 

If the sound you are describing and the sound I am imagining that you are describing are the same, sounds like tires to me. The best way I feel you can determine this is to do the few things I recommended to see if any of the aforementioned conditions exist. If after checking how the tires are wearing, inflation, etc etc you determine the everything is fine then you can pretty much rule out suspension trouble. One thing that I forgot to mention that you can do is to visually inspect all bushings, and joints on the front suspension for bulging and cracks that may indicate the need to replace them. Check where A-arms meet the frame, spindles meet A-arms, shocks meet suspension and body, tie rod ends, most good tire places offer free alignment checks, basically give it a good look over. If everything looks good I would put it up on jacks and give the tire a good up and down and side to side tug to make sure that you don't have excess play in the steering linkage or ball joints. Your basic inspections that your tire shops do will rule out any major suspension troubles. Then you could pretty much bet that it is tires. Another thing you could try is this. If you determine the sound is coming from one specific location such as right or left front, left or right rear then you could just move the tire in that location to another location to see if the sound follows the move.

 

Thanks again, I'll do that.