Can Severe Misalignment Cause Rumbling?

[jmurray01]

The Focus has very bad wheel alignment - to the extent where a front N/S tyre that was replaced in June is now completely bald on the inner edge after only 2000 miles.

Since the tyre was replaced, a very low pitched rumble has started eminating from the same and it gets louder the faster you travel but disappears when you drop below around 40MPH.

Please bear in mind this noise was occuring when it went in for its MOT in July which it passed with no steering/suspension related fails or, thereafter, advisories. Thus, to my mind, the noise cannot be anything other than very bad wheen alignment causing the treads to scuff the road severely (hence an almost ruined tyre after 2000 miles!).

The noise notwithstanding however, the alignment is definitely off and therefore it is going into the garage on Saturday for re-alignment which will solve that issue and HOPEFULLY the other one too. If not, I will be confused.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice to come.

P.S. Forgot to mention, the steering doesn't "pull" in any direction however the steering wheel is squint, not sure if that makes any difference in determining the "type" of misalignment it has.

[troy45]

Could the rumbling be a wheel bearing on it's way out? could be contributing to the alignment going out so badly but not 100% certain about that.

[jmurray01]

Could the rumbling be a wheel bearing on it's way out? could be contributing to the alignment going out so badly but not 100% certain about that.

I would be inclined to agree with you, but if that was the case surely it would have been an advisory for the MOT at the very least?

[artscot79]

I had bad rumbling when driving yet when it was checked at the garage there was no noise with no load on it a test drive confirmed the wheel bearing was gone wheel alignment rarely gets that bad without something else contributing

[kevzs960]

Wheels bearing have to have excessive play for it to fail an mot i think. If its a noise its an advisory. Depends what make tyre you have got. Check the tyres for any uneven wear on the tread..

E.g right centre and left of the tyre take a measurement then move abit more down and take again. Could be 4mm 5mm 5mm then 4mm 5mm 3mm. Hope ive explained well enough?

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[Andy.B1971]

I wold be inclined to find a garage with either a Hunter or John Bean geometry setup, The reason why is because the front wheels rely on the rear wheels being setup correctly, if the rear wheels are incorrect the fronts will be too period.

[jmurray01]

And the answer to my own question is... Why yes it can!!

After picking the Focus up from National Tyres & Autocare yesterday morning, where the mechanic told me the alignment had been "miles out", we took the car for a 60 mile drive and at speeds ranging from 1MPH to 70MPH the only noise was Roy Orbison from the stereo. Absolutely silent.

I am very relieved that a £29 alignment has solved both issues (the tyre wear and road noise) and that there are no issues with any steering components or the wheel bearings.

The only thing I do need to spend money on now is at least one front tyre as the N/S has worn down to the fabric on the inner edge and the O/S has gone bald on the inner edge (not as severe, however). I may just bite the bullet and get both tyres replaced though to make things simpler and of course safer.

I hadn't really considered this before now, but the wheel alignment must have been hampering the fuel mileage too as previously the needle would start to drop after 40-50 miles, but yesterday it took until 75 miles for any movement to occur. Of course, the full effect won't be known until it goes down to almost empty and I can then compute the specific MPG.

The bodywork does need £200-300 spent on it to bring it up to reasonable condition, but at least mechanically it is now up to a good standard with the only things outstanding being one tyre and an oil change.

[SeanW]

If the alignment was that far out, it's probably a good idea to get the steering & suspension thoroughly checked over. There's also the possibility that undue stresses have worn the wheel bearing (rumbling means excess vibration).

Any idea what caused the tracking to be so far out?

[jmurray01]

If the alignment was that far out, it's probably a good idea to get the steering & suspension thoroughly checked over. There's also the possibility that undue stresses have worn the wheel bearing (rumbling means excess vibration).

Any idea what caused the tracking to be so far out?

Before checking/adjusting the alignment, the mechanic did give the steering and suspension components a basic inspection and found nothing obvious, but you are right in saying it should be more thoroughly checked over.

As for why it was so far out - I haven't a clue! We've owned the car for around a year and a half and in retrospect it has been out for that whole time, I just didn't recognise it until a few months ago.

I'm no expert, but I would imagine that if it was misaligned for a long period of time it could have just been a natural progression from being slightly out to begin with and gradually getting worse as time went on.

For the moment though, I'm just glad to have the issue resolved.

[kevzs960]

Can be anything from a slightly worn bush. Uneven tyre pressures. Tyre brands that are known for uneven tyre wear. Un even tyre pressures. Going over potholes in the road. Bumping up a curb. Parking on a slope.

Thats normally the things that i have found in the past

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