Excessive road noise

Tom W

Tom W

Active Member
Hi all,

I'm using my P6 for a weekly commute to Southampton from South Lincolnshire. It's going ok so far, but I feel there's too much road noise at speed. It does detract from the refinement of the car somewhat. I wonder if it's front wheel bearings. There's a persistent drone that's not engine noise and not wind noise. The front wheels spin freely when turned by hand, but there is a noise as they spin. It sounds more like the pads dragging slightly, rather than a deep wheel bearing rumble. There's also slight play detectably at the 12 - 6 o'clock position on the drivers side. Is this an issue for the MOT? I know there's some play designed into the system.

Any suggestions?

Tom
 
hi, does the noise stop when u steer from side to side???? if so that can indicate a wheel bearing. does it always do it for the entire journey or just on a certain stretch. I was convinced once I had a wheel bearing out until I realised it was only on the road between Maidstone and Wrotham after that it was ok.

many thanks
coop
 
The noise is fairly consistent, irrespective of cornering. More speed related, if anything. It is slightly dependent on road surface, but not enough for me to be convinced it's just road related.
 
P6s are notorious for transmitting road noise into the cabin, mainly due to the odd front suspension design that is bolted to the bulkhead. The bulkhead itself has a labyrinth of inbuilt air ducts that are very effective as transmission line speakers, that magnify the wheel / road generated noise.
There are not many things that you can do to cure this, but apart from the obvious proper sound insulation, it helps if you have healthy (read quiet...) front wheel bearings and most importantly a set of fresh quality tyres.
 
The tyres were fitted new when I first got the car MOTd. They're not that worn, as I haven't done many miles but have been on about 4 years now. Is there a way of re-greasing the front bearings without stripping and reassembling everything? My Jag has grease points for doing this. There's obviously a difference in adjustment between the sides as one has play and the other doesn't. The manual describes backing off the nut to get the correct end float, so presumably there should be some play detectable at the rim. I'm a little worried about my MOT as I'm going to have to get it done away from home, so won't have much opportunity or facilities to correct anything that needs doing.
 
Tom W said:
Is there a way of re-greasing the front bearings without stripping and reassembling everything?
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No. The most you could do without completely dismantling is remove inspect and regrease the outer bearing.

Tom W said:
There's obviously a difference in adjustment between the sides as one has play and the other doesn't. The manual describes backing off the nut to get the correct end float, so presumably there should be some play detectable at the rim. I'm a little worried about my MOT as I'm going to have to get it done away from home, so won't have much opportunity or facilities to correct anything that needs doing.
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You should have some endfloat, and this is a problem when using MOT testers that aren't familiar with older cars with taper bearings, as they want to fail it because of the play, and adjust the bearing up to remove it before issuing a pass. Just like they did with a TR7 belonging to someone I knew, who went off on his hols straight after the MOT, and had the bearing overheat and break up in the middle of France....
 
Tom W said:
They're uniroyal. I forget which type, but I don't think they're commercial tyres.
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If they are commercial tyres they will tend to be noisy, as low road noise isn't a consideration on commercials in the same way as it is on cars.
 
I have new Vredesteins. Hardly any noise from the road despite missing soundproofing and slightly floppy front suspension. What I can hear mostly is tappet ticking.

I'd suggest you check everything rubbery and add a double layer of anti-vibration pad in the wheel arch and behind the suspension mount.

I did have an issue a while back and a vibration pad on the HEATER unit stopped it. Basically ANYTHING flat can resonate.
 
Thanks, I think I'll see what the MOT test brings up before dismantling anything. Then I can replace the wheel bearings and set up everything properly at my leisure.

How do I tell if I have commercial tyres?
 
It says tread, 2 plies steel, 1 nylon, 1 raylon. The sidewalk is 1 ply raylon. They're uniroyal rally 165 R 14, 84 T. Guess they're not commercial then.
 
The "Rallye" sort of gives it away. Sporting pretensions and associations don't tend to go with truck tyres....
 
The number 84 on the tyre is the load rating. Commercial or van tyres are up around 100. 84 is typical of a car tyre
 
Tom W said:
It says tread, 2 plies steel, 1 nylon, 1 raylon. The sidewalk is 1 ply raylon. They're uniroyal rally 165 R 14, 84 T. Guess they're not commercial then.
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You lucky b' stard, uniroyal rally eye tires generally are full Silica but maybe yours are not, it would pay to look up there website to see what you have got.
When I was looking for tires for mine they were the first company of choice to research then GT radial ( in a quest for full Silica ) but in the end I did a special import from Korea on some Hankook tires.


Graeme
 
All the tyres are the same size.

What's the advantage of silica tyres? I bought the uniroyals because they were the best value from the small selection of tyres of the correct size my local garage could source. The tread pattern doesn't look too modern either, which is a bonus.
 
Full silica ticks all the boxes in that fuel economy is improved due to lower rolling resistance, safety is improved in the wet as water is not a lubricant to Silicone ( it is to rubber), braking performance is increased and lastly your steering is lighter, truly the modern age snake oil/ cure all but these things are all well documented as opposed to the latter.

Graeme
 
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