rc2904

I have a 97 civic and I have been hearing a humming noise that becomes noticeable at around 20mph and increases with speed. The tie rods and axles are fairly new so my ideas were either needs alignment or bad wheel bearing.
I jacked the car up and tried turning the wheels by hand to listen for noise. On both fronts I hear a sandpaper like sound when turning them and there is some resistance so it stops about immediately after I let go. On the rear passenger side I have the sandpaper sound off and on back and forth while spinning and on the rear driver there is absolutely no noise and no resistance so the tire spins for a long time if I turn it by hand. Should I be expecting noise/resistance or not when I turn these by hand?

redlinetuning

Those are signs of bad wheel bearings.

Tyson

a bad bearing will have a more worn out spot at some point in the rotation, not constant but repeating every revolution. you can feel the subtle vibrations. its easy to confuse with brake pads dragging tho, especially if rotors have a slight warp.

the front tires arent going to spin forever since theyre attached to the diff. the rears should spin longer since theyre not.