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wagonmaster2 · 01-19-2007, 03:53 PM

I have B F Goodrich Mud-Terrain tires on my Wrangler with approximately 20-25,000 miles and they have started riding rougher, making more highway noise and making a thumping sound and feel around 35-50 MPH, kind of like the old nylon tires used to after setting a while. None of this was apparent when new to 10-15,000 miles. One tire dealer says its just the nature of the beast (the one I purchased from) but another says they have some funny flat spot wear but he doesn't know if BFGoodrich would do anything about it. I keep the front end aligned, rotate and balance every 4-5,000 miles, run about 32 lbs. air pressure, and both dealers say there is nothing wrong with the shocks. Has anyone else noticed or had any problem with their Mud-Terrain tires?? I've run two sets of BFGoodrich All-terrain tires on 2 other vehicles with absolutely no problems and got excellent mileage out of them, so don't know whether or not to pursue this with the manufacturer or just live with a very noisy rough riding tire. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and quiet they were when new.
Wagonmaster2
2004 Meridian 36G
2001 Jeep Wranler Sahara

wagonmaster2 · 01-19-2007, 03:53 PM

I have B F Goodrich Mud-Terrain tires on my Wrangler with approximately 20-25,000 miles and they have started riding rougher, making more highway noise and making a thumping sound and feel around 35-50 MPH, kind of like the old nylon tires used to after setting a while. None of this was apparent when new to 10-15,000 miles. One tire dealer says its just the nature of the beast (the one I purchased from) but another says they have some funny flat spot wear but he doesn't know if BFGoodrich would do anything about it. I keep the front end aligned, rotate and balance every 4-5,000 miles, run about 32 lbs. air pressure, and both dealers say there is nothing wrong with the shocks. Has anyone else noticed or had any problem with their Mud-Terrain tires?? I've run two sets of BFGoodrich All-terrain tires on 2 other vehicles with absolutely no problems and got excellent mileage out of them, so don't know whether or not to pursue this with the manufacturer or just live with a very noisy rough riding tire. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and quiet they were when new.
Wagonmaster2
2004 Meridian 36G
2001 Jeep Wranler Sahara

RV Wizard · 01-20-2007, 12:58 AM

I am no tire expert but I wonder if the rubber is getting hard from loosing its lubricity from ozone and UV exposure. I am sure colder temperatures will also contribute to harder rubber. On a mud tread there is a lot more surfaces than on a street tire and so I would think that deterioration may be accelerated. Just my 2 cents.

Frankie · 01-20-2007, 01:31 AM

When I bought my used jeep,the goodyear ties that were on it looked brand new. I test drove before I bought it,but never went above 50mph . You guessed all the way home it shook and shimmied over 60. I balanced the tires tried rotating,tried differant air pressure,new stearing stabilzer. I finally broke and brought it in for an alignment. My mechanic called me 20 minutes after I dropped it off and said the front end was fine,he said the tire were out of round,they were junk.Bought some dunlops and jeep rides awsome now.On the jeep forum board I belong to ,a lot off jeep owners are complaing about the 2 brands written about here.

Gary RVRoamer · 01-20-2007, 04:31 AM

You may have a flat spot, but that's not a tire defect. They typically come from a locked wheel stop, where the tire skids enough to rub the soft rubber off and create a flat spot. They can be very subtle and hard to detect, but obvious when rolling at speed.

You may also have some scalloping, which is a series of flat spots along either in the inner or outer side of the tire tread. That comes from an alignment problem. Big tires on a small vehicle are susceptible to that sort of alignment difficulty. And soft, knobby tread tires can wear quickly.

Neither of the above are tire manufacturer problems.

Last, it is possible the tread is beginning to separate from the tire body. This slight bubble will become noticeable at speed, causing a thump. Good rich might accept some responsibility if that is the case, depending on age and wear.

wagonmaster2 · 01-20-2007, 12:51 PM

Thanks for all the responses, they all sound very resonable. I know how much alignment and lack of rotation can cause problems with high tread tires is why I keep on top of it all. But these are my first tires with this much tread depth. Most tire tread is 11/32 to 13/32 inch deep but these were 19/32 so the tread could have done a lot of wiggling. I may go back to the last dealer and see what they think Goodrich might do.
Wagonmaster2