bearing or tire noise?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

joaks

Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
884
Location
San Diego, CA
Hey guys, before I post my question I need to qualify that I am writing this in an exhausted state (unrelated to question) so please excuse what may be unwarranted confusion.

When driving home today I noticed a new noise which would best be described as an "errrr" sound, similar to the noise you get when driving over an metal bridge but not as loud. The noise seems to show up at about 40-45 MPH and sounds like it is coming from the front, drivers side tire (hard to say on this). When driving home on the expressway (65-70 MPH) the noise seemed to decrease (may be masked by other noise) but after about 20 minutes on the expressway I could hear the noise at all and could not reproduce the noise on side streets as before.

My tires are new (less than a month) and are fairly noisy Sumotomo LSTs. The car was also aligned when the tires were installed. I am wondering if it is tire noise because today I had the noise on moist roads and I had not driven these tires on wet roads until today and the roads were drier after my freeway trip. I touched the wheels when I came home today and they were not hot. The brakes are fairly new also.

My tentative plan (this is the real question) is to drive to work tomorrow (25 minutes, mostly highway) and see if the noise is still there. If it is, drop the car off at the shop Tuesday morning. My concern is that it could be something serious which would make this a bad idea.

Any thoughts?
 
Jack up a front wheel - grab N&S and then W&E ... try to shake ... feeling play W/E is linkage only - all directions is bearing ...
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Vehicle?
Miles on car ?
FWD ?


Its a 97 subaru legacy with 159,000 miles and is all wheel drive.
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Jack up a front wheel - grab N&S and then W&E ... try to shake ... feeling play W/E is linkage only - all directions is bearing ...


This is how you check the wheel bearing.
Do this and go from there.
 
Originally Posted By: JMJNet
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Jack up a front wheel - grab N&S and then W&E ... try to shake ... feeling play W/E is linkage only - all directions is bearing ...


This is how you check the wheel bearing.
Do this and go from there.


Did this. I did not notice any play in any direction. How much movement should I expect if there is a problem?
 
Originally Posted By: joaks


My tires are new (less than a month) and are fairly noisy Sumotomo LSTs. The car was also aligned when the tires were installed. I am wondering if it is tire noise because today I had the noise on moist roads and I had not driven these tires on wet roads until today and the roads were drier after my freeway trip. I touched the wheels when I came home today and they were not hot. The brakes are fairly new also.



You're taking the proper precautions. I think it's probably just getting used to newer tires. When I first put on my BFG's 2 yrs ago I expected them to be somewhat noisy based on Tire Rack consumer reviews. So I jumped all over that right off the bat. Yup, they sounded noisy at medium speeds on less than smooth roads. 2 yrs later I rarely even notice or think about if they are noisy or not. They may not be after all. With the radio on I don't hear much of anything with respect to engine, trans, or tire on road noise in my manual 6 speed.
 
"errrr" sound

My 2005 Focus makes a noise like that at certain speeds. For the past 5-7 years. It's fairly loud so I try not to drive between 55 and 60.
 
Originally Posted By: JMJNet
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Jack up a front wheel - grab N&S and then W&E ... try to shake ... feeling play W/E is linkage only - all directions is bearing ...

This is how you check the wheel bearing.
Do this and go from there.

This will only determine if the wheel bearing is in advanced stages of damage. A wheel bearing on its way out will make loud noise long before it develops play.

From your narrative it's difficult to determine if the wheel bearing is bad or you have noise somewhere else (i.e., tire, differential, rusty brakes).
 
Exactly. My G37 got new tires because they were worn and noisy. Well, this time, the noise didn't go away, unlike the last set. I checked for play when I did the brakes and found none. It still needed the new hub assembly. Even the dealer missed it at first, since the noise went down with the new tires, and not away completely, when they did their test drive. They were about as happy as I was having had to take it apart twice. I will say something nice about the Infiniti dealer, though, in this experience. They charged me less for the OEM part than I can get it anywhere at my corporate rate, and they didn't charge me full labour, either. I was shocked.
wink.gif
They did it for me cheaper than I could have done it myself, which is an absolute rarity.
 
I mentioned here before - have discovered bearings out during routine tire rotations - no sound - no feel ...
A better tire place (like the ones who have real mechanics) find these and go get the customer to demonstrate ...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: joaks


Its a 97 subaru


Wheel bearing.
laugh.gif


You may find yourself doing all 4.
 
Sounds like our Altima.
Dealer and independent garage both say wheel bearings are fine and are stumped.
I'm replacing the hubs in both sides and all four getting new brakes.
 
My VW mechanic used to work at a GM dealer. They had a customer bring in a Silverado that he claimed had a bad bearing. Nothing was found the first couple of times--the irate customer finally had it and said he wasn't picking it up. My mechanic was told to take it out on a spin during lunch, as the customer said that it didn't do it all the time. It took 40 minutes of driving, but once the bearing starting making noise, it would be a horrendous racket. He had to go back and get some of the other mechanics and show it to them; it again took 40 minutes but once it started, it was obvious. New bearing and all was well.

Bearings can be funny things.
 
I learned a trick from a Nissan tech to find a noisy bearing that has not developed play.
With the wheels off the ground and the car in neutral, grab the coil spring with 1 hand and spin the wheel with the other.
The noise and roughness will be transmitted to the spring and you can actually feel the roughness through the spring.
Just compare the LH and RH, if one feels noticeably worse than the rest, you found your bad bearing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

I
  • Question
Wobble Noise at Idle
Replies
4
Views
247
JavierH19
F
MB Ticking / Tapping noise only when warm
Replies
14
Views
522
FreeWoRLD
A
What might this 2018 Subaru Impreza engine noise be caused by?
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
mattd
michael007
HR-V in limp mode after car wash - followed by weird noises underneath gear shifter
Replies
4
Views
275
michael007
92saturnsl2
2006 Ram 1500 SLT 5.7L, whine/noise on deceleration from rear end
Replies
6
Views
250
Kira
Back
Top