I bought my 01 in April of 07, and the tires it had on it (Cooper Lifeliners) were just about due for replacement. August came around and went to NTB to get them replaced. My dad had a great experience with Yokohama AS430s on his 2000 camry, and since he was paying for the new tires, those are what we went with on my car. They were pretty good tires for the money, but they certainly aren't the world's greatest tire, by any means.

I had no problems with them up until June of this year. I put the AS430s on at 71xxx and in June 09 I was at 84,4xx. So right at 13,000 miles, and they had already been rotated/balanced once. They had developed quite a bit of whine when I would be above 30mph, and didn't think this was acceptable. I took them in a few weeks ago for another rotation/balance, and they still had the same noise they did before I dropped them off. I spoke to the manager and his theory was that my struts could be bad. He said that the struts don't have enough compression to keep the tire on the road throughout rotation, and therefore the tire is 'floating' intermittently while traveling down the road. I didn't think there was any way that my suspension could be bad at 85k. I also got a second opinion from my local nissan dealer (I had it in to have some ECM warranty work done, and explained the noise to him at the same time, not knowing what it was causing it.) The service manager said that it was definitely a tire issue, and there shouldn't be anything wrong with my suspension.

So, the NTB manager gave me an option. He said that if I paid the difference between the regular lifetime rotation/balance and the road hazard ($9/tire) he would take the AS430s off and let me replace them. Since I thought it was a tire issue, I gladly accepted and decided to go with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S+. I also had to pay the differnce in price between the two tires, plus putting the Pilots back on.

NTB got the tires in today and I took my car in to have them put the new tires on. They finished, I paid, and I took the car out for a spin to see if the noise went away. I got out on the highway and what do you know, the noise is still there. This time, the whine doesn't start until I reach about 35mph. The whine is a little less pronounced than on the AS430s, but still noticable, and certainly not acceptable. So I called the NTB manager back up, and he went right back to the 'I still think that your struts could be bad' story.

Now here's my question for you tires/suspension gurus. Is it in fact my struts/suspension that is bad? I did a bit of searching here and also found that a bent rear axle could cause cupping and/or noise. I need to get this fixed soon.

 

Anyone?

 

85k the struts could be on their way out or even bad, but you would notice the ride going to ****. now could be the time to upgrade springs struts. get an alignment too

 

whining at 30mph+ speeds = wheel bearings, no?
Have the NTB folks checked ur alignment?

 

The car got an alignment when I put the Yokohama's on originally. When I had them rotated the second time (in June 09) they said the suspension seemed tight and it didn't need an alignment. I don't notice any harshness in the ride, or any lessening of ride quality.

Would NTB be the best place to have the struts tested? The manager said he'd put the strut under compression and test it. At this point, he's got my by the throat, bc he knows I want to get this fixed. I don't think I'm in the market to lower the car, but I guess it could be an option.

Also, when the car was in getting the axle carrier bearing replaced, the shop I took it to said that the sway bar end links were in need of replacement soon. I was planning on doing that this summer, but haven't gotten around to it. Could that be causing the noise?

Wheel bearings were checked earlier this spring when my axle carrier bearing was replaced. They should be ok. See above.