Rumble in the Urban Jungle

[daboy3000]

I have owned my TDi FR+ now for 4 days and have noticed a low rumble coming from the wheels. The noise seems to get louder when I turn the wheels and when I brake, although this might be the brakes. I'm not sure if its all the time or just certain roads.

I have searched the forum and have noticed that the mk2 seems to suffer from tyre noise. Is there the same problem with the mk1, I have never had a wheel bearing go so i don't know what that would sound like.

I have high performance (budget, I think) tyres on the standard Cupra R/FR+ alloys, will get the make at lunch time if that helps.

I may be just being paranoid but I have a warranty and want to get any niggles sorted asap, any help would be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

[daboy3000]

Could someone just let me know if they do or do not suffer from this.

 

[DannyC87]

budget low profile tyres will give a fair amount of road noise. are your tyres wearing evenly out of interest? what make are they?

 

[daboy3000]

They are Vredastein Ultrac tyres, just looked at the site and it says they are summer tyres and i quote "by shifting the right and left tread parts in relation to the centre section, noise production is minimised." hmmm

They are very slight cracked. The sound is heard to explain, almost like a rubbing sometimes.

oh, i was wrong about them being buget, blimey £121 each!

 

[DannyC87]

if it was a wheel bearing the noise would be the same on all surfaces i think, it would also be at its loudest around 50mph (resonating frequency or something!). i had a slight rumble and vibration when i bought my lcr, it turned out to be 2 buckled wheels. are you getting any vibrations?

 

[daboy3000]

No, its very smooth, maybe its me and it's just the noise its meant to make, had a big soft Superb before this with lots more sound deadening.

 

[DannyC87]

could just be you, see if there is a member in your area that'll come out for a drive with you. good luck

 

[daboy3000]

Just booked it in for a wheel bearing, this is the problem according to the Seat stealership. Strange for 25k miles but everything else seems fine

 

[DannyC87]

i had one go at 35k on my last car, unfortunately was not spotted early and screwed the hub, disc, carrier, etc etc... one big bill

 

[daboy3000]

Did you have a grinding noise when braking or is that a separate issue?

Thanks for all your help by the way

 

[DannyC87]

that might well be a seperate issue, 25k is about the time brakes discs and pads may need changing. mine has just done 27k and i'll be changing mine next week. might be different between fr+ and lcr though; not too sure to be honest. see what the stealers say i guess!

 

[jimbo_iow]

Hi all I've not made many post on here so forgive me if i get things wrong...

I have a similar if not the same problem as this on my LCR. I get a strong vibration/hummbing sound and a feelable vibration seeming to come from the front end. It only seems to happen on some roads and not others, I have taken it to the dealers a number of times and they cant find anything wrong?? I usually find what i need to know on this site but i cant seem to find the answer to this one?? anyone have any ideas, i've read it could be things like tyres, bearings, cv or even dampeners...

 

[daboy3000]

I'm not getting any vibrations, just the noise. What tyres do you have?

 

[jimbo_iow]

I've still got the P zeros on as i've only had to buy two since i got the car and intend to try to wear the whole set out in one go for the next tyre change.

its a weird vibration , kind of like an oscillation from an uneven rotation. So i was thinking it coulb be bearings but it doesn't happen all the time and there's no play in the wheels either.

 

[daboy3000]

If it was a bearing it would do it all the time like mine. What kind of speeds does it do it at?

 

[jimbo_iow]

It happens at all speeds, and gets stronger between 40 and 60mph. It sometimes feels a bit like the wheels are slipping (like when turning a tight corner in the wet) but i dont have any uneven tyre wear and thr traking is fine (i get it checked every few months, theres a fair few bumpy roads on the Isle of wight, but try to avoid them)

 

[daboy3000]

Well, if they are all on tight and you haven't wacked one into a kerb it does sound like it could be a bearing. The mechanic at seat said you normally really hear it about 40mph. Take it back to them and ask them to check it again. Unfortunately you cannot check the bearings because they are sealed units.

 

[jimbo_iow]

Yeah i'm thinking that, will take it in again and get them to have a proper listen. Cheers for the halp and opinion. If i find out its something else i shall post about it on here i guess.

 

[daboy3000]

No probs, i will do the same when they change mine on friday

 

[jimbo_iow]

I'll keep an eye out for the good news then if it fixes your problem. Do you know how much its going to be to get them changed? I've not actually seen a figure but I didn't think it was too bad.

Anyway good luck!