cupped tires?

[kickit67]

Brought my 06' M45 in today to the dealer for what I thought was grinding brakes and was told my tires were cupped. I bought the car used and it had Falken tires all the way around. Tires seem almost new. Can cupped tires sound like bad brakes? They suggest OEM tires at 350.00 a piece to fix problem.

I can't imagine new tires would solve the grinding sound and feel.

[szh]

If they are recommending that you should buy Goodyear RSA, then please avoid those like the plague!

What size tires do you need? Do you have the Sport 19" wheels or the 18"? You can get excellent tires from Tire Rack (and have them mounted locally) for a lower price than what the dealer wants. If the brake issue persists after that, then take the car back to the dealer at that point.

(I am, of course, assuming that you have low enough tread and/or the tires are damaged and that new tires are needed. Or that the car has too low of a load index tire currently - this is a SWAG, of course! BTW, which model of Falken tire are on there? Size? Load index? Etc.)

Z

[kickit67]

The current tire is the Falken FK 452, 245/40ZR19 98Y, max load 1653lbs.

I saw at Tire Rac there was a few reviews describing a grinding like metal to metal feeling wich really is bad tires. It's hard to believe that the grinding I feel and hear is really bad tires? I have a brand new spare still in the trunk and it's the Protenza brand which came with the car.

It will better to buy tires that match my spare OEM then I can buy 3 and save some money. Use one of the older Falkens as my spare.

I believe when this car hit the used dealers hands, someone traded tires and put the Falkens on and took the Protenzas for themselves. (Just a guess)

[szh]

The current tire is the Falken FK 452, 245/40ZR19 98Y, max load 1653lbs.

Ah, thanks! That should be a decent tire according to what I have read. But I do not have personal experience with that model of Falken. (FWIW, I have used their Falken Ziex 512 - in an entirely different size and different car - and found them to be quite good.)

I saw at Tire Rack there was a few reviews describing a grinding like metal to metal feeling wich really is bad tires. It's hard to believe that the grinding I feel and hear is really bad tires?

Hmmm ... can you provide a link to those? I did not find them with a search on http://www.tirerack.com. If it is not in a Tire Rack article per se, I don't know if I would put too much emphasis on those comments either.

I have a brand new spare still in the trunk and it's the Potenza brand which came with the car.

The Bridgestone Potenza RE050A I would assume. That is a good tire.

Still ... please consider buying them from Tire Rack ... or ask the dealer to match those prices (including shipping, of course, to be fair)!

It will better to buy tires that match my spare OEM then I can buy 3 and save some money. Use one of the older Falkens as my spare.

Yes, you can do that, but I would recommend checking the age of the spare that is in the car. The manufacturing date is on the sidewall (week/month and year coded).

If the spare is more than 5 years old, then I would not recommend using it as a regular tire at this point - at that age, the rubber has deteriorated to the point where it could be unsafe to use.

If it is between 3 to 4 years old (or so), then it is still usable for a few more years, but do check to see if it is in good condition. Else, you perhaps may find that the one old tire has different problems - uneven balancing or road feel, etc. Then again, it may also be fine, since it has not seen any use or heating cycles, etc.

Z

[kickit67]

Thanks for the advice.I will have the dealer match the pricing and probably buy 3 more tire like the spare. The spare is about 3 yrs old and never seen the road.

thanks again

[szh]

No problem ... we are all glad to help when we can.

Z

[New2Import]

If it has sat for a long time it could have flat spots. Never heard of cupped. But easy way to find out is jack it up and spin the tire and look to see if it has a wobble look on the thread.

[M45Caliber]

I just replaced my Yokohama Avid W4s that were also cupped. The culprit is the negative camber that can/will wear the insides of the tires more quickly than the rest of the tire. If the are NOT rotated frequently (say every 3K miles) the cupping will become pronounced and become noisy - mine started sounding like those huge truck snow tires with the whine and even a slight vibration setting in at higher speeds.

The best bet, per several tire experts I talked with, are to get tires that are assymetrical as opposed to directional. Directional ((assuming the same sizes front/rear) can only be rotated on the SAME side of the car, hence they are always rotating in the same direction) whereas Assymetrical tires can be rotated to the other side of the car, thus allowing the tire to rotate AND wear in both direction. This will mitigate the cupping problem.

I also decided to try an inexpensive but highly rated tire, as buying new tires every 18K miles (assuming the cupping issue continues) is rediculous. So, a good friend has a BMW 540 wagon, and installed a set of Kumho Ecsta ASX last year. I drove his car and the tires handle quite well, are quiet and after 10K miles still look pretty good. The tread pattern appears to be a carbon copy of the Pirelli P-Zero Nero (a good thing) and are Assymetrical so I can cross-rotate them on the car to help eliminate the cupping issue.

I've driven almost 2K miles (took a trip to Cali) and they ride MUCH better than the Yoko's, although turn-in seems to be a little bit duller. Braking and smoothness at high speeds is outstanding.

I called Tire Rack, got the price ($109/tire!) added shipping costs ($65) and mounting/balancing costs if done locally ($100 @ $25/wheel). This came to $600 total for 4 new tires. THEN I went back to see my friendly Discount Tire manager, showed him the breakdown and told him the business was his if he could get the tires and have me out the door for the SAME price. He did, although I had to wait 3 days for the tires to get here from Cali.

I never thought I'd buy a Korean tire, but I must say I am impressed so far. Check out the reviews at TireRack. An impossible to beat value at $109 a tire.

[kickit67]

question for you?When your tires were cupped, did it seem like you were having a brake problem at first. I still can't believe it's the tires? When I brake I get a grinding, like metal to metal feel and sound. Even when I slow down to a very smooth stop it grinds. I will be putting new tires on soon. I hope that solves the grinding sounds?

[BiiiigTeddy35X]

If you don't mind, please update us on how you feel the tires perform once you get some mileage on 'em. Thanks! Good luck with them

[maxnix]

I just replaced my Yokohama Avid W4s that were also cupped. The culprit is the negative camber that can/will wear the insides of the tires more quickly than the rest of the tire.

Actually, even if a tire has sufficent load rating to meet or even exceed minimumOEM load specifications, it does not mean that the tires carcass is strong enough to withstand the forces exerted by a heavy car like the Infiniti V8 sedans.

Buying downline or even second tier brands is not a formula for safety nor performance over 20K miles. Try to buy top of the line performance tires from Tier 1 manufacturers - Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Goodyear. There is no free or even cheap lunch with tires. What other part of the car is in touch with the road?

Read the tire sticky in Infiniti General for some good information. And enter your own experiences using the proper format, please.

Realize that as good as the tire rack testing regimen is, they use a lighter car (BMW 3er) to evaluate tires, and that those results will not carry over with a 100% correlation to a heavier vehicle that will stress the tires's carcass much more. The testimony of those above reflects this fact, as did my experience with a set of Ultra High Performance Summer Dunlop Direzza DZ101 (245/45-18) on a FGY33. So badly cupped at 10K miles, they roared down the highway at 70 mph. Wife said ditch them, and I did.


Modified by maxnix at 11:28 PM 8/9/2009