So, I got new tires put on today - went out for a drive of about 25 miles or so. Coming back home and going through some not very sharp S-turns, I could hear some sound coming from the rear area. It was rotational in nature, not a grinding sound, more like a repeating whoop whoop whoop whoop sound as though something was rubbing.

The tires I had on it were 265/70R17, and I changed to some all season Michelins 245/70R17. I was able to pull over and checked out the tires all around to see if there was something going on that was obvious - there wasn't as far as I could tell. I did also tighten my lug nuts all around - I was able to get one more turn on 3 out of 5 nuts on each wheel. Any other thoughts? I didn't hear the sound anymore, but I didn't really go through any more S-turns either.

 

the lugs being loose were most likely your problem.....

 

OK - it's not the lug nuts. I tightened them way down, and have checked them several times. Driven about 300 miles now since getting new tires on. I heard "the sound" again today in the exact same two spots coming back from a trip. It sounds like a rotational rubbing sound at lower speeds, going downhill in a right hand curve. This is weird. I am sure it's not the tires rubbing anything, and I can't see anything else obvious that it could be...

 

what backspacing do you have?

 

Did this problem start after the tire change or had it been there all along? The reason I ask is I had this problem on my XJ for a long time and after bearings, tires and brakes, I figured out that it was the rear brake drums were out of round. Got different drums from a donor in the JY and presto sound was gone. If this is something the shop caused, though. I would take it back and make them fix it.

 

I am not sure of my backspacing. Eyeballing it, I would say about 4" - 5". I have 17x9 generic steel rims, I have no idea what brand they are. I have about 3" of lift also - seems to be a combo of rough country with some springs off a Grand Cherokee from what someone else told me.

I didn't hear this noise prior to getting the new tires on, but I didn't drive any stretches of roadway that are similar to this that I can remember. My rear brakes are discs - I don't know if they are conversion or not, but my rear axle is a D44 an not aluminum, so I am kind of thinking this is a hybrid setup that came off another rig. One thing I have noticed about the rear - when the wheels were off, there is only about 1" of each lug nut showing, maybe a little more - it's not that way on the front. Also, the front and rear discs set up looks a little different, like maybe the rear is smaller.

I am thinking about driving that particular stretch of road again and putting someone with some mechanical knowledge in the back seat to listen. Again, it's low speed downhill turns to the right. Hmmmm

 

DId you ever get them balanced. I havnt read that you had and that would be the first thing to check.

Also anytime you get new tires or lift it is time for an alignment.

 

My jeep made this noise also but it ended up just a tire balance issue as stryker said but if you just got them mounted recently I assume they balanced them on the spot.

 

I am almost certain they balanced them when they were mounted. They have the lead weights crimped on, and I think there was a tire spin balancer machine thing in the tire shop. They were kind of out of view while I was trying to watch. Maybe I'll have them re-mounted and balanced to make sure...