Q: Heres a new one on me. I recently bought a pair of Firestone Champion tires for my 2014 Prius. They were put on the rear of the car.
Mike Richter, San Jose
A: So far no problems, but then.
Q: I was headed toward San Martin on Highway 85 and experienced the car oscillating, twisting and turning pretty violently. I thought I had broken an axle.
Mike Richter
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A: So Mike did the smart thing and got off at the next exit.
Q: Things looked fine, but I drove to the place where I got the new tires and told them I needed to have the car looked at. I thought the car was falling apart.
Mike Richter
A: The tire man said: Were you on 85?”
Q: Yep, I replied.
Mike Richter
A: And to your surprise.
Q: He then said grooves in these tires dont react well to the grooves on 85. Drive on some other freeways, wear the tread down and it will go away, he said.
Mike Richter
A: Smart tire man.
Q: He was right. There was no oscillation on other freeways, only on 85 between highways 17 and 87. Have you ever heard of this before?
Mike Richter
A: Yep, Highway 85 veterans know all about this. Problems began after Caltrans cut deep grooves into the pavement to help water drain and reduce noise. There have been only a few significant issues with certain tires. Now Mike reports that the “car still shakes on 85, but not as violently. I suppose the tires are wearing a bit.”
A history lesson. Back in 2003, people living along 85 in Saratoga, Campbell and Cupertino were upset at the freeway noise, so the VTA spent $9 million to micro-grind the road, producing a corduroy-like surface on the pavement with grooves.
There was not a significant reduction in overall noise levels in decibels, but there was a modification to the frequency of the noise to the extent that frequencies easily heard by the human ear were reduced and people perceived an improvement.
But it has also caused cars with new tires to swerve when crossing the grooves. Dirt has filled in the grooves and eased this, but those with new tires say its a problem for them.
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