I have a 2006 Ford Escape XLT FWD. Less than a week ago, I had four brand-new Michelin LTX M/S2 tires mounted, balanced and installed on it. The place that did the installation inflated them with nitrogen (their standard practice), but I don't know if this is even relevant to my question. This is the first completely new set of tires I've ever put on an SUV. Are new SUV tires supposed to be noisy? It's not a grinding, popping noise, and the noise is steady even through turns, so I don't believe it's the wheel bearings. The noise is more like a deep hum that gets steadily louder with speed. It's not deafening, but it is annoying. I also notice a very slight vibration.

The tires that were on it were Continental ContiTrac that were OEM, and they had gotten noisy, too, but I thought that was because they were getting worn out. It's also why I didn't want that same brand when I replaced them. When I replaced them last week, they had over 50K on them. These new tires are rated for 70K and I read in other forums that "harder", longer-wearing rubber is naturally noisy and that as the tread wears down, it'll get "better".

I've had this vehicle for 6 years and it's never been involved in any collisions, front-end or otherwise, or any hard bumps against curbs. I want to get some advice before taking it to a mechanic, who might come up with something expensive to fix. Should I give the tires time to break in? Or could be something else?

First off - the nitrogen fill has nothing to do with the noise. Personally I think nitrogen fill is a bunch of hooeey, but that's another topic...

I think the issue is that the tread pattern is pretty deep, especially compared to your old worn out tires, and being rated for such long life means the tire rubber is "hard," and hence less forgiving. The result is more road noise than you are used to. However, the reviews of this tire on the Tire Rack web site indicate that they should be relatively quiet (see: Michelin LTX A/S (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=LTX+A%2FS) ) - so I wonder if perhaps the problem is they may be under-inflated? Check the pressure against the recommended pressure shown on the sticker of the Escape's driver door jam.

The tire store put a sticker on my windshield that says the tires are inflated to 32psi. I didn't think nitrogen had anything to do with it either, but that's what they put in them as their standard operating practice.

Regardless of what the sticker that the shop placed on windshield says - what does Ford say the pressure should be? Check the sticker in the door jamb, or the owner's manual. Then check the actual tire pressures with a pressure gauge - you do have one, right?

Yes, I have a good tire gauge, too. I'll check when I get a chance.

I used to work in a tire shop. Unfortunately, there are tires that make noise. As was already stated, it's usually the tread pattern that does this. If you check and the tires are properly inflated and the noise continues, it may be annoying but at least you can be happy with the fact that Michelin makes a damn good tire.

As for your concern about a possible mechanical problem... pretty much the only other thing that would cause a noise like that is a bad bearing. 99% of the time though, a bearing noise will change as you're turning whereas you said the noise remains the same in the turns. I did look up the tires you're talking about and they do have a mildly aggressive tread pattern which could cause you noise.

Maybe you could take it back to where you got the tires and ask them about it and see what they have to say.