Flapping Noise?

[dominicstl]

While I've been driving lately, I've been noticing somewhat of a "flapping" noise coming from my right front tire. I can tell it is from my car because it speeds up with the car. If you saw my post in The Pit, they just repaved our streets, the really crappy way. They didn't want to spend the money to completely redo it, probably because of the economy, so they just put down a thin layer of oil and poured gravel on top of it, leaving it to those in the neighborhood to compact the gravel They're very slowly coming back with street sweepers to pick up the excess gravel every day.

I don't think that it has anything to do with my tires, but I thought I might throw it in there just in case. Anyway, I checked the tire last night when I got home and didn't see anything. There were no rocks wedged in the tire other than those in the actual tread, so I don't know what the noise is coming from. When I bought the car about a month to a month and a half ago, we had 4 brand new Michelin's put on and they did an alignment for us. However, even before the flapping noise (which started recently, I think the day they decided to "redo" the streets), I could notice the right front tire was producing a weird vibration. When I would put my hand on the shift knob while driving, at random times the right front tire would vibrate for a second or two and I would be able to feel it on the shift knob.

I don't know if the two are remotely related, but I thought I'd give it a shot and see if anyone out there could help me with one or both of these problems Thank you in advance!

(Sorry for the length)

[accordn17]

i been hearing the same thing from my front right to.. light flapping noise.. its very possible it could be the mud flaps if you have them.. the wind when driving will make the vibrate which could cause the noise.

[dominicstl]

It feels like the tires when it vibrates, though. And the mud flaps are solid plastic, I don't see how they could be moving enough to cause the noise. Also, my left tire is producing the same "flapping" or "clicking" noise but on a much smaller scale. Has anyone else experienced this or know what it is?

[SatinSilver]

It could be the tire or tires are flat spotted which should go away with some miles. Make sure they are properly inflated. Some tires are worse than others when it comes to flat spotting.

[dominicstl]

Flat spotting? You mean it's slowly getting flat? It looked kind of flat the other day, but I just find it weird that none of this started happening until they repaved our streets

[SatinSilver]

Nope...the bottom of the tire thats in contact with the ground developes a flat spot to it from sitting in that position. Thats why when you put a car in storage your supposed to make sure the tires are well inflated. Norm the spot pops out after some driving. Some tires will do this after sitting for a short amt. of time.

[dominicstl]

When you say "after some driving" how long do you think? Because it's been a couple of days...

[SatinSilver]

First I'd air the tires up to 35 psi. Then a 20 min. hwy ride should do the trick. Some tires will be fine after a few miles but others may need a 20min hwy ride.

[fireballer44]

Check the obvious.....I know I've noticed pieces of gravel stuck in between my treads before, maybe a oddly shaped big chunk got stuck in yours? Especially being how they redid the roads. They just let them be crappy cracked up concrete around me here.

[dmo069]

Originally Posted by fireballer44

Check the obvious.....I know I've noticed pieces of gravel stuck in between my treads before, maybe a oddly shaped big chunk got stuck in yours? Especially being how they redid the roads. They just let them be crappy cracked up concrete around me here.

I was gonna say gravel or even a piece of metal or nail, screw, etc. in the tire. I once had a spark plug completely embedded in one of my tires do the same thing.

[dominicstl]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver

First I'd air the tires up to 35 psi. Then a 20 min. hwy ride should do the trick. Some tires will be fine after a few miles but others may need a 20min hwy ride.

I'm afraid of over-inflating my tires or something and I don't have a tire pressure reader

Originally Posted by fireballer44

Check the obvious.....I know I've noticed pieces of gravel stuck in between my treads before, maybe a oddly shaped big chunk got stuck in yours? Especially being how they redid the roads. They just let them be crappy cracked up concrete around me here.

I haven't seen anything embedded in it yet and I've looked a couple of times. Could there be something on the other side of the tire completely that I can't see?

[dominicstl]

Well I went and checked my psi for the front tire and it was right where it was suppose to be according to the manual. I went and washed my car with one of those "power-jet" hose thingys and made sure to get the tire really good in case it was in fact a rock or gravel. I didn't roll down the windows quite yet (wanted to make sure I didn't get water spots) but I will next time I go out. I don't know what else to do if the noise persists

[my8thgen]

i would say your best bet is to take a closer look at the front right wheel area...jack up that side of the car and look for anything out of place, check the tire again for anything in the tread pattern, if you have "stick on" wheel weights on the inside of your rim check those...it is possible that on is in the process of falling off "ex. still on the wheel but starting to peel off"

my guess is that it has to be something with the tread...start there, the fact that the noise coincides with the speed of the car tells me that it is tread related and that could also cause vibration

[dominicstl]

There are stick-on wheel weights? Never heard of that. And I've been wondering the same thing about the connection with the vibration.

[Accordriver]

Yes, the stick on weights are on the inner side of the rim. Have you gone all around and checked for loose trim? A trim clip came out of one of my panels on the bottom and it flaps around alot..