[BrendanP]

My 2011 CRDi hatchback had new Hankook Ventus Prime 3 tyres fitted about 6 months ago, and I've recently noticed a 'thrumming' noise which I had thought was a noisy wheel bearing, though I can't feel any roughness or play in any wheel bearings. When it was in for it's MoT, the tester said that the rear tyres were getting stepped on the inner shoulder, and whilst they still look brand new at first glance, you can feel slight undulations on the face of the tread. He said it could be the rear shocks, although they show no sign of leakage, or it's just the construction of that particular tyre that makes it prone to this stepping. He mentioned various combinations of tyre brands and car brands that can cause this. Has anyone else had this happen on their car?

[AlanHo]

I had a similar problem which sounded like a wheel bearing - on one rear tyre it turned out to be the tread coming away from the carcass and "shuffling" under the contact patch with the road. In my case nothing was visible and it was the full width of the tread

Suspension or alignment need looking at.

[tw2005]

replace the shocks, That's what I did, Same story, 2 vehicles, wagon shocks only had about 80 000k on them. No evdience of leaks. Inner edge ends up with squared off edges.

Both vehicles are now perfect, hatch has had the shocks on for over a year and tyres have not suffered since nor has the wagon.

I threw KYB EXCEL-G into mine, and my 3870000K hatch has a set too which look like they were replaced a long long time ago and are still sound.

[Surferdude]

I would like to define what you mean by "stepping" first.

On tyres, I use the terms "scalloping" and "feathering".
I suspect your stepping is feathering. The leading edge of the tread pattern is raising upwards slightly..

If it's feathering you mean, most likely there's an issue with the rear alignment.

If the tyres are scalloping, then more likely the shocks are to blame. Scalloping is a more severe pattern with obvious wear on the tread blocks.

Not a hard and fast rule but definitely more likely.

[BrendanP]

What  I'm seeing is scalloping, I think. The shoulder of the tyre isn't getting rubbed off, but you feel peaks and hollows that seem quite regular and maybe 2 or 3 inches apart. It sounds like it's the shockers, the car has done 150,000 miles and these are the originals.

[Surferdude]

What  I'm seeing is scalloping, I think. The shoulder of the tyre isn't getting rubbed off, but you feel peaks and hollows that seem quite regular and maybe 2 or 3 inches apart. It sounds like it's the shockers, the car has done 150,000 miles and these are the originals.

Yep. Probably shocks.
But worth getting the alignment checked as well, just in case something is amiss there.