Wheel Buckle Causing Noise and Tyre Wear???

[JP2021]

A slight whirring sound at around 70mph... my only complaint with my otherwise fantastic Mk7 GTi PP. I've had the car looked over by three garages, including my local VW main dealer, with the only possible cause of the whirring being noted as a buckled rear NS 19" Santiago Alloy. This, along with a buckle on the rear OS alloy, I had "straightened" whilst having the alloys refurbished but still the whir occurs. The tyres are noted as having some feathering and uneven wear which could be adding to the whirring, but then that begs the question what caused the feathering and uneven wear in the first place? I've swapped the tyres from back to front but still the whirring persists.

I'm trying one last local independent VW specialist early next week and hoping that the cause of this "whir" is found. Any more thoughts on what may be causing this sound AND if the buckle that still exists in the "straightened" alloy wheel is within tolerance and acceptable would be very much appreciated.

A link to a video showing the "before and after" of the buckle can be seen here (apologies for the framing):   

https://youtu.be/c5APJ-yDIG0

[Talk-torque]

Once you have feathering, the noise will be there until the tyres are replaced, because it is the feathering that causes the noise, not where the tyres are fitted. Feathering is a problem which has occurred on Golfs for a few generations. It seems to be caused by suspension geometry, but the magic solution has never really been found. New tyres and a four wheel alignment should get rid of the whirring. I had feathering noise on my Mk5, but so far none on any of my three 7s.

[fredgroves]

In my experience its the rears that do this. With the rear end being so light the rears can last for 65k or more but get chewed up with internal edge feathering before that and the noise drives you mad.

[Exonian]

Another vote for rear tyre feathering.
Buckles can induce a bit of wheel wobble unless balance weights are tactically applied but don’t normally generate much noise.
Rear tyre feathering however sounds like a wheel bearing has died and is really annoying.

[Agreeable Slick]

Agreed. My rears have sawtoothed / feathered and I get the noise when driving. Swap fronts to the back and you'll probably hear the noise move as well.

Got mine booked for a hunter 4 wheel alignment seeing as I now have fresh boots on.

[fredgroves]

I should have said, the answer is never leave the rears on until they die.

When you get new fronts, have them put them on the rear.

In the 12-15k the fronts will last you won't have seriously feathered the rears. 12-15k on the rear is probably only 20-25% of their life. You'll get easily 8k with them on the front.

That way you use up the tyres more evenly, using all of the rubber to destruction.

I wouldn't religeously pursue this front-rear swap for any other reason, but on a Golf you really don't want that horrible noise! I too thought I'd got a broken wheel bearing!

Your only choice now is to get new rears on and bin the noisy ones.

BTW I also wouldn't bother trying to solve the alignment issue to fix this. Its money down the drain - if anyone uses the OEM figures for geometry they will still feather because that is how the car is setup from the factory - its a stability choice.

[mcmaddy]

Are you all running high rear tyre pressures because apart from my Mk5 which were notorious for sawtooth I've never had an issue and I'm on my third variant of a 7/7.5. It's also not recommended to swap front to rear etc because of the different camber settings. I know people still do it though to prolong tyre life.

[fredgroves]

Running OEM pressures correct for the load at the time of driving.

[JP2021]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated! It seems that this whirring sound is more common than I thought. My tyre pressures are as stated in the manual, allegedly no issue with any of the wheel bearings according to the garages so I'm hanging my hopes on the respected VW specialist I'm taking the car to on Monday. They're taking it for a full on test drive and doing a full four wheel alignment (appreciate this could well be a waste of money but I'm desperate), is there an offset they could put in to stop future feathering? I've also ordered four Goodyear 225/35 R19 Y (88) EAGLE F1 (ASYMMETRIC 5) XL from Costco (last weeks deal - all four tyres supplied and fitted £395, hopefully won't destroy the alloys whilst fitting them!) so if once these are fitted the noise still exists, well???!!!

On the subject of wheels, looking at the video, does anyone think the refurbishment company did a good job on the buckle? Must admit I thought a 'straightened' wheel would be totally buckle free but maybe I was expecting too much?

Agreeable Slick - be interesting to know the outcome of your wheel alignment if you can update once it's done!

[joe6]

 Not sure 4 wheel alignment alone will solve the issue unless you mean a full suspension geometry check?