Need advice on tire cupping
 

Greetings and thanks in advance for any help.

Last May, I bought a 2009 Accord EX, a supposed "lease return", from my Honda Dealer (my 6th or 7th accord). The car had 30K miles. The car had a faint "whomp, whomp, whomp", in the rear which only got worse as time went on. Other than that everything seemed fine, the rear shocks didn't seem soft, the car tracked relatively straight, etc.
Last week at 56K miles I put a new set of tires on the car, the sound is gone. The shop showed me the two rear tires that came off the car, both were pretty significantly cupped on the inside edge.

Today I took the car to the Honda dealer to have it checked out, and they claimed to have found nothing wrong, all suspension parts, alignment, etc correct for the front and rear, theirt suggesion was that I had gotten two defective tires. I am not an expert, but sure seems unlikely to me that both tires could be similarly defective on the inner surface?

As the 2009 has 17" wheels, I don't want an $800 set of tires to be ruined.

Am I reaching for straws and should just shut up and drive, or does this seem odd to anyone else?

thanks!!!

What you've described sounds pretty normal for a FWD car which has never had its tires rotated.

+1

The rear tires on an FWD only keep the gas tank from dragging on the ground. Rotate them every 6 months or so, and problem solved.

Tires cupping has most always been caused by bad shocks and springs..do the bounce test to see if I'm right on this..

You are correct, bad shocks can make this condition worse. Alignment is another possible cause. But even with good shocks and a perfect alignment a FWD car will cup rear tires. Proper rotation is the only way to manage this. Honda says every 7500 miles...

For FWD cars, I've had many brand new cars which were inclined to cup the rear tires even when the suspension is perfect and the alignment is spot on.

Agreed... While WheelBrokerAng is correct, bad shocks will make it happen sooner, rotation is the only way to resolve it.

This opinion comes from 6 years as a professional mechanic, then 10 years as a Honda service writer. I have been involved in the repair of some 60,000 vehicles during my time in the service business and I can say with 100% confidence that rear tires cup on FWD Honda's even with everything prefect in the suspension.