05 Toyota rear end vibration

[sunfire]

I notice a buzzing vibration sound inside the cabin coming from the rear of my 05 Corolla. This has been bothering me for over a year now. I couldn't do anything about it due to the winter we had. The trunk was cleared out and made sure the spare tire was secure but that didn't help.

The rear drum brakes were cleaned and lubed last weekend but the buzzing noise didn't go away. I didn't disassemble the brakes. Just sprayed down the drums and brakes with Valvoline brake cleaner and used Permatex Anti-Seize on contact points. Lubed adjuster screw and adjusted rear brakes so they are snug to the drums but not tight.

The buzzzzzzing vibration is always audible between 20-25mph speeding up, slowing down, and cruising at that speed. Rarely it can be heard briefly at highway speeds. But its fine cruising at 35-40 mph in the city. It seems to be speed related, I can almost predict when the noise can be audible while driving based on the speed of the car. I was 90% sure it was the rear brakes because there isn't much back there that can make that noise. I'll try to record a video with my cell tomorrow but not sure if the microphone is sensitive enough to capture it. Your help is appreciated.

 

[rolla04]

I had a similar problem with my 2004 corolla, but with the front end of the car. The vibration/noise was only audible at the same speed that you notice. The problem went away after I balanced and rotated my tires. Might want to give that a try since you ruled out the brakes.

 

[sunfire]

I found this video on youtube that sounds like what I hear inside the cabin at 20-25 mph cruising. What the heck is spinning so fast at 20-25 mph to cause that noise?

Jump 21 seconds in. The pitch of the buzzing also varies a bit just like in the video. As soon as I'm out of that range the noise is gone completely like in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D36DXpFNl9E

 

[sunfire]

Originally Posted By: rolla04
I had a similar problem with my 2004 corolla, but with the front end of the car. The vibration/noise was only audible at the same speed that you notice. The problem went away after I balanced and rotated my tires. Might want to give that a try since you ruled out the brakes.


Car has had only 1 tire rotation done 2 years ago. The worn down fronts are now in the rear. I'm probably not going to rotate the worn down tires back to the front again. I may live with the noise and get new tires when the time comes.