Any car gurus here?

dieseldude · Jan 31, 2014

Any car mechanics here, looking for some possible casues of a thumping sound related to speed. I checked the usual stuff, ball joints, tie rods, all looks good. no odd driving conditions. no obvious defect in tires. any ideas

on a 2008 caravan.

4play · Jan 31, 2014

Not a guru, but have experienced this sound with an out of balance wheel, or bad shock. Could be the wear bar on a tire, this happened on wife's car. Had this sound with a wheel bearing on my truck once also.

Good luck & keep us posted so we can learn too.

Thanks,

Gary.

dieseldude · Jan 31, 2014

In the case of a wheel bearing, wouldnt it wander? almost sounds like a flat spot in the tire, been doing it since they were put on.

RCW · Jan 31, 2014

I've replaced about 50 (really 6 or 7) wheel bearings on a 06 Chevy Uplander van. Usually a howl, but other funky sounds can happen, too.

Can you feel it in the steering wheel or anyplace else when it thumps?

b20barry · Jan 31, 2014

Hello, Check your tires real good. Had many with busted belts that's hard to see. Can be a long lump that's not real obvious!

RCW · Jan 31, 2014

A bad wheel bearing will not necessarily make it wander. The one's on our van I think are a bad design - been through a bunch of 'em.

Any odd tire wear? You say since they were put on.....

RCW · Jan 31, 2014

b20barry said:
Hello, Check your tires real good. Had many with busted belts that's hard to see. Can be a long lump that's not real obvious!

Good point - I'm not a big fan of Good-Year tires due to belts.

Probably just my bad luck, but those Invicta tires they made years ago went bad on me due to belts. When they went on me, it would shimmy like a wheel out of balance.

They were OEM for many vehicles 25+ years ago.

dieseldude · Jan 31, 2014

No, i dont feel it in the steering wheel, and I dont see any unusual wear, they look to be wearing fairly evenly. maybe it is jsut a busted belt and I just dont see the hump.

RCW · Jan 31, 2014

I'm no expert - just draw from experience.

I would suspect a belt or still, wheel bearing. If it does start to wander - that bearing is REALLY bad, and you don't want to go there.

Another that had me stumped a while back was sway bar link - but they bother on bumps.

Since you checked many suspects - I assume calipers, rotors are OK - no funny looking stuff there.

Does it seem front, back, or not sure?

dieseldude · Jan 31, 2014

Calipers and rotors are good, just did a brake job recently. As for where its coming from, thats hard to say, it resonates through the van. seems a little stronger in the front. I did a crude check of the bearing when it started. no unusual play top to bottom or side to side.

SteveF · Jan 31, 2014

Another thing to check out would be the cv joints. Blown needle bearings can cause a thump... and can be dangerous. How many miles on the caravan?

Is the thump getting worse or fairly constant?

Donystoy · Jan 31, 2014

I bought two new Goodyear tires for the front of a car a couple of years ago and had lots of thumping especially when going around ramps. Dealer said there was nothing wrong with them until I interchanged front to back. He then replaced one at a time and of course it was the second one. The last Goodyear tires I plan to buy.

skeets · Jan 31, 2014

I might go along with steve here, and check the universal joints I have had them go south in the jeep and made a thumping sound that vibrated through the whole car

dieseldude · Jan 31, 2014

Steve: I never gave CV's a thought. Last time I heard a bad cv it was more of a clicking sound, thanks for the tip.

Don: sorry to say these are good years.

Skeets: thats the weird part, there is no vibration. and doesent seems to be getting worse.

olthumpa · Jan 31, 2014

dieseldude said:
almost sounds like a flat spot in the tire, been doing it since they were put on.

My money is on separating belts in the tires. Had it happen to me twice and that is how it presented itself to me. Seeing as it started when you had the tires put on just reinforces it.
I would have them rebalanced first and if that does not solve the problem insist on new tires.

Good luck.

Dan_R_42 · Jan 31, 2014

Have you tried swapping the tires front to rear/ rear to front, while keeping them on the same side?

It may help to see if it feels or sounds any different.

RCW · Feb 1, 2014

dieseldude said:
Calipers and rotors are good, just did a brake job recently. As for where its coming from, thats hard to say, it resonates through the van. seems a little stronger in the front. I did a crude check of the bearing when it started. no unusual play top to bottom or side to side.

They won't necessarily be loose either - sometimes with a screwdriver to the bearing and your ear you can hear it making noise when you turn it.

After reading the posts you've attracted - I feel better that I wasn't the only guy with bad belts on G-Y tires - but mine were 20+ years ago.

Wish I was more help.

Please, when you do find it, let us know what the culprit was!!

dieseldude · Feb 1, 2014

Havent had a chance to try anything yet, but will keep you all posted.

RCW, I have a set of wranglers on my truck, best tires I have ever owned, great wear, do well in snow and rail, fairly quiet and good mileage.

RCW · Feb 10, 2014

dieseldude said:
Havent had a chance to try anything yet, but will keep you all posted.

RCW, I have a set of wranglers on my truck, best tires I have ever owned, great wear, do well in snow and rail, fairly quiet and good mileage.

Yes - I had Wrangler AT/S on my last truck - 2007 Chevy.

I had good experience with them, too. Changed at 48k or so. I kept 2, 'cause they weren't that beat.

Not sure - but I think my '03 Chevy were Firestone/Bridgestone OEM. They worked great too, so I replaced the Wranglers on the '07 with them.

2013 Chevy came with same Wrangler AT/S tire - I'd be happy with the same wear.

dieseldude · Feb 10, 2014

The set of Wrangler's I have on my '00 Ford now were suppose to be 60K mile tires. I'm pushing 90K on them, and am just now nearing the wear bar. if it wern't for the starting to slide in the rain and snow, I wouldn't be looking at all.

Speaking of Firestones, I had the OE Firestones on my '95 explorer, the one that were recalled because of supposed blowouts, They were good tires also. IMO, the only reason for the recall was people not keeping up on keeping their tire properly inflated.

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