We have an 05 Tribute and it is the loudest damn car I have ever been in. You can't even carry on a conversation at a normal level. What the hell is the issue w/ these cars? I have heard the tires are the issue. Any reccomendations?????? There are 3 continental contitracs and one goodyear. We just had the tires rotated and the noise was only coming from the rear but now it is all in the front. Strange because the one goodyear is now in the front too. Any suggestions?????? Thanks.

 

Sounds like you just need new tires.

 

well the only way you are going to get rid of the noise is by replacing all four tires. Also have it aligned by a shop that specializes in alignments. Part of the problem is the independent rear suspension even at factory spec these cars tend to wear the inside edge in a choppy pattern due to toe. a specialist may have a different spec that they have good luck with that help slow down the toe wear.

Also the contentials that came on the truck are noisy by nature, also i would like to add that its not recommended to have mix match tires if your trib is AWD the tread wear and tread variation can cause rapid wear on your AWD components. Some wear else their is a tread that list some tires that other have had good luck with.

Also you own a ford with mazda badges so you name should be like a rock....whatever

 

The mis-matched tires definitely contribute to the noise you are hearing...even more so if the tires aren't rotated regularly. The fact that the noise moved from rear to front with the tire rotation is even more evidence.

Take a look at the tread on the tires, I'd be willing to bet you see scalloping of the tread (wearing into a wedge front/back on each outer tread block) The noise is being generated from these scalloped lugs.

 

I have the same car, same year and the same problem, I rotate my tires every 5,000 miles when I change the oil. But it does not help my tire wear problem, the alignment shop I send my customers cars to, said that ford has this problem with the escapes(tributes) and the explorers. However they don't see a lot of the escapes so he did not remember if they had a spec to help then tire wear. I think alot of the problem is the contentials I'd bet the only tire not noisy on his car is the mix match goodyear. This is one annoying problem I'm afraid I'm going to have to live with.

 

Here's a few that get good reviews Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza P235/70HR16. also the Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread. The Contentals are considered a rim tire, basical crap, so if you can I would change them out.

 

I replace my Continentals with a Futura brand from PepBoys in Maryland and the noise has been reduced for the past 3 years. The Conts had scallopping after a year of driving. I bought it a year old so I do not know if they had been rotated or not, but I rotate at oil changes.

 

Recommend that you not buy a Mazda. Bought a Mazda 3 2006. At around 17,000 miles I began to have problems with the tires. After complaining several times to the dealer, I was referred to the Toyo Dealers to address the warranty. I ran into major problems with them in honoring the warranty and ended up buying 4 new Firestone tires at 21,000 miles. Again at around 20,000 miles, I began having the same problems. I had the tires aligned, rotated and balanced every 3,000-6,000 miles and nothing improved the wear of the tires. Neither the Mazda dealership nor the main Mazda offices were willing to do anything to remedy the problem or find a solution. I finally traded the car in in 2008 and don’t plan to ever buy another Mazda in my life. I have read blogs on both the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 with the same problems.
Unless you are rich and can afford tires every 17,000 miles, it is not worth the trouble you will incur. You will be zoom zooming every 17,000 miles to a tire store.