Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Tires rubbing???

Ford says my tires are rubbing against my struts. The tires on now are wintermasters(205/55/16) mounted on the stock SVT rims. I thought and a technician friend of mine both though that it was the wheel bearings. IT hums loudly, and vibrates the whole car when veering to the left or right at speeds above 30MPH. This just started when I put my 17's on with 215/40/17 tires. This wasnt a problem with the stock rims and 215/50/16 goodyear Eagle GTII's. Any suggestions??

Please keep me up to date with your findings, I've been battling a similar issue with my 99 SVT for a year now. I thought my new 225/50/16's were rubbing, but when I put my 205/55/16 snows on I still get a vibration (it never happened before with these tires). The vibration is really bad when I go over a knoll, when the weight is unloaded from the tires. I thought it was a bent half-shaft, but after replacing that the problem is still there. I don't have a lot of play in my wheels when I check them for bearing problems, but I do notice a slight hum when cruising at highway speeds. I also get a vibration when cruising along at highway speeds.

A hum the gets worse at higher speeds and peaks when turning is usuaully wheel bearing related!

-Andy

yeah, if your tire were rubbing on the strut, you would def be able to tell.

a good trick to see if this really is the case, is to buy like white window paint or some kind of "flaky" white paint, and coat the inside of the tire. drive around for about 5 min, jack the car up and pull the wheel and check inside for white paint. you will see right then if it is rubbing since the white paint will have rubbed off onto whatever its rubbing against.

but i would not listen to the dealership. sounds def like a bad wheel bearing. jack the car up...and grab the whole wheel and try and move it around. if you get play, then its def the wheel bearing. HTH.

also, make sure that you are just not confusing the actual sound of the tires rotating on the road. I know when i throw my wife's 17"s on with 235/45 series tires, they are incredibly noisy and droan at high speeds due to the aggressive tread pattern, size, etc.

If it were rubbing on the strut, you would see the spot... and prolly see it on the tires. I have winter tires on now, and there is extra noise. It's due to the blocked knobs on the tires (think of how those knobby tires or big trucks sound). I honestly say it's the bearing if it's not the hum of the tire. I wouldn't take it back to that Ford tech either. Those tires are the stock size for 98 and 99 Tours. The same tire size Ford put on their SVT wheels. If there is rubbing of any sort, you'd see it on both the tire and the strut.

now that u bring that up, i hear more noise w/ my snow tires too vs my 17s. glad its not just me.

My snow tires used to seem so quiet compared to my KDW's, but since I switched to Hankook Ventus Sport K104's, my snow tires seem really loud to me now. What's the typical price to replace front wheel bearings?