Front tires suddenly got noisy at 9500 miles on my 2011 XJ SC. Immediately had dealer check and found both front tires had cupping on inside. Dealer checked alignment and found it was out. Have not hit any noticeable potholes but who knows. Driving style is mostly pretty sedate and careful. Anyone else have this problem?

I have about 12500 miles on it now and still have the oem Dunlops since they still have plenty of tread left. I've thought about replacing them with all season continental's or Pirelli's now since the noise is getting bothersome.

Love everything else about this car though!

 

Cupping, especially with our quality of tires, is usually related to a suspension issue. Alignment will cause the inside of the tire to wear abnormally, but usually evenly. Cupping is usually caused by suspension allowing the wheel/tire to bounce. You may not feel the bounce, but as it eats part of the tire, the wear in the end, causes it to cup. Happened on my Lexus and had the whole front suspension replaced. Good luck!

John

 

Thanks John. When you had the problem with your Lexus was it due to damage or wear? I can see going through set after set of tires trying to prove it.

 

You hit the nail on the head. I brought the car into the dealer and they blamed the tires. I bought two new front tires. After a few thousand miles I had the same exact result, cupping of the tires. I went to a Lexus Specialist and he said it had to be the suspension. Took it to the dealer and they replaced the entire front suspension under warranty and paid for new tires. It fixed the problem. I will try to find the paperwork, however, I remember being due to faulty shocks. Wasn't damage on my part and there was on 8,000 miles on the car.

John