Vibration at 55-70mph… Get new tires?
 

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get your opinion before moving forward with buying new tires. Here's the deal-

2011 Audi A3 (56,000 miles)
I bought some Michelin Pilot Spot (I think A/S 3) in 2014. Since then I’ve put around 25,000 miles on them.

I finally got around to rotating them about 6 months ago. (I know, I missed the boat on that.) After rotating them, there was a noticeable vibration throughout the whole car in the 50-60mph range. Also when I would decelerate through 20-15-10mph there was a deep “what-what-whaa-whaa” sound, seemingly coming from the front wheels, but can’t be sure.

So I had them rotated back to their original positions.

Now, the deceleration sound is gone. But the car still consistently vibrates when I’m on the freeway at between 55-70mph. After I get above 70, the vibration disappears.

From reading online, I thought this might be due to unbalanced wheels. So I took the car to a tire place, but they told me the wheels are perfectly balanced. Instead, they suggested that my tires’ “age” is looking old, and pointed out some early/moderate stage dry rot/cracking around the edges of my tires. They also didn’t say anything about cupping.

I’m suspicious, but eager to get this resolved. So I’m considering replacing my tires. It also should be mentioned that the car pulls to the right slightly when on the freeway.

Should I go ahead with replacement? Or have the car examined for something else? Maybe bearings, etc…

Can anyone more knowledgable than me give their opinion?

Thanks in advance,