Hello,

I hope someone can help me--I've got a '08 Dakota with just over 40,000m on it, with the stock tires on it, and have a weird problem that I cannot figure out. When I'm driving and have the window down, I can hear a weird "whup, whup, whup, whup" sound coming from the front tires that is dependent on the speed I'm going. The weirdest thing is that it seems to only start at about 25 mph, but then it will remain all the way down through deceleration.

None of the the warning lights for the tires come on; there is no perceptible oscillation or bumpiness of the ride, and the tires don't look, or feel out-of-round o anything. I'm completely baffled.

Does anyone have this same mystery, or can anyone offer suggestions on what I may be hearing?

 

Why not take it to a tire shop and have them inspected? After 40K on the original tires, you may need to consider getting some new ones?

 

I will move this to the 3rd generation Dakota sub-forum.

 

Yep, take it somewhere and have it looked at. Most places like Discount Tire will inspect them for free. You might have some cupping going on. If those are OEM tires, they probably need to be replaced with 40k on them as stated. If you don't want to do what has been suggested, you can rotate the tires and see if the sound moves from one area to another. Then you know it is the tire and not something else. Welcome to DF!

 

Thanks, Brian in Tuscon, and jkeaton. I've been good about rotating them, pretty much every recommended interval. I'm going for an oil change tomorrow; I'll see if the can look at them and see if they see anything funny.

I forgot to mention too---it seems to only do it on certain roads or surfaces; nothing consistent. That's one of the things that makes it so frustrating to figure out. I can't get a good read on what exactly is happening!

 

Do you hear it if more than one window is open?

 

Yes, I can hear it in the front tires it seems.

I have Goodyear Wrangler, P245, 70R16 tires, and I just looked at them and they look good still to me--not worn to the indicators, no visible strange wear on them--but I admit that I have an untrained eye. I don't know if these are stock tires--I bought the truck with about 14,000 miles on it, and have maintained recommended maintenance on it since.Tire rotation and all, too.

With the windows closed I don't hear anything at all. It's just on certain road surfaces, and above 25-30 mph. The truck doesn't wobble or wander at all.

 

In the early days of radial tires, that sound was fairly common and occasionally you'll still run across it in today's tires. It could be a separation beginning in the ply or sidewall - look for a bulge, it doesn't need to be large, but you should be able to spot the irregularity on the tire if this is the cause.

Another thing that could cause a similar symptom is something stuck in your tire - look between the treads & run your hand over the entire tread surface.

 

Ok. Just checking to make sure was not wind induced noise that often can be heard when only one window is open and traveling at higher speeds.

 

No, it's definitely tire-related or tire oriented.
Chris, you're from "Chrysler LLC"--the same people who built my vehicle. Have you never heard of this problem before? These Wrangler tires are fairly popular.