My 2016 Fit has very noticeable road noise between 40-50 mph, kind of a thumping noise. Then low to moderate noise at higher speeds. I'm wondering if I could be due for tires. The originals have 21K on them which seems low. I haven't had them rotated. Is it unusual to only get 21K out of the tires? I commute to work 40 miles/day round trip at 70mph. That's in addition to my around town driving.

 

Hard to say from sitting here in my kitchen, but, yeah, it's possible they could need replacing....or at the very least, least get them rotated, 21000 is quite a bit of miles for not having rotated 'em. Also, I've never gotten great results from the factory tires from any car I've ever bought new....bought ours CPO, and previous owner had just replaced the tires, so I'm stuck with the Coopers for a while, but they seem to be wearing well

 

I went to the tire store. The tire guy said I have uneven wear patterns, 4/32 to 6/32. He suggested I live with the road noise and use up the tires then get an alignment and new tires.

 

Would it do any good to get an alignment now, with the existing tires?
Just wondering.

 

An alignment check wouldn't be a bad idea, no reason to wait until these tires wear out to do so....may prolong the life of 'em, if the alignment is indeed off. Heck, you might not even need an alignment, but not a bad thing to have checked, either way.

 

I just replaced my stock Firestone's at over 40k. I get regular alignments, once or twice a year and I rotate tires at 5k. Plus I'm pretty good about keeping tires inflated. It takes work but you can save money on tires.

Personally it would drive me crazy if the tires are noisy but my commute is double yours. I guess if bite the bullet and just replace them. Then learn to better maintain the car.

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I am more familiar over the long term with my old car with manual steering. If steering is hard (not sure if you would notice this with a newer car with power assisted steering) it can be an alignment issue, even if the car doesn't pull to the side. The same for steering that consistently pulls one way or the other (though that can also be caused by a faulty brake).

I have never had a set of tires that didn't show some uneven wear, but again my long term experience is with a much older car. I guess you have to weigh up paying for constant maintenance for prolonging life for a bit. I haven't bought tires for the Fit but I think the last time I bought tires for my Corolla 8 years ago it was a bit over $200, so I need to figure if balancing and rotating is going to extend the life proportionately.

I just find the Fit has a rougher ride, even compared to my 1981 Corolla wagon. I definitely notice every small irregularity in the road.

I'd recommend getting alignment done every couple of years at least. If you hit a lot of potholes or train tracks hard it's going to throw it off. I don't think it it going to cause noise though. If you hear a thumping it could be your tire is hitting some harmonic at speed and there's some other tire damage. If you're talking about general dull roar from the road surface then it could just be normal.

 

I'll admit it - I've been lazy.
My research tells me you hit the nail on the head. Fit's seem to be very picky about tire maintenance. A noticeable percentage of Fits seem to get noisy around 20k miles.
I've got an appointment to get the alignment checked Monday morning. Then I'm going to see how long I can tolerate the noise from these tires. Then, I'll spring for a new set and rotate them with every oil change - which I've been doing every 5k.
In the mean time I'm going to keep my eyes open for tire sales.

 

WoW, I've owned cars for 47 years and never gotten an alignment. I would if my car pulled to one side or if I developed a weird tire wear pattern. Lucky, I guess.

 

One easy check is to run you rand around the tire and feel the edges of the tread, you can usually feel dull and sharper tread edges, if its not consistent, or you feel high and low spots you have cupping which will make it have some vibes..

 

That is very fortunate for you. Last year I hit pot hole hard enough to to slice the sidewall on the stock Firestone's. I had to replace the tire and it knocked the toe enough to need an alignment. Another pot hole I dived into was big enough to scrape the front bumper. VDOT takes horrible care of our roads in the DC metro area.

 

Due to my laziness I had not rotated my tires for 23000. So I finally did, at 22929 miles to be exact.
While still noisy there is a noticeable improvement. Before rotating there was a loud thumping, humming roar between 40 and 55 mph. Now that I've rotated the tires the noise is mainly at 20 mph and below while braking. There is no more loud roar from the rear.
While doing a search I came across a post that said the tires will smooth out with time, if you neglect rotating like I have. I'm hoping that is the case. I hope I can get more wear out of these tires. Maybe 40,000 miles if everything goes well.

 

Bump for edit ^^^.