i have a bone stock auto 97 civic dx sedan with 142k miles and there is a rumbling sound coming from the front wheels. it sounds like i have off-road mud tires on, where the sound increases with speed, not engine revs and the steering wheel vibrates with the sound.

so i initially thought it was the tires since if i turn the steering wheel a certain way the sound would slightly go away. so i swapped in another set but the sound remained. there was no uneven tire wear either and the car pulls straight so the alignment is ok. so i inspected the axle area and fender linings to see if they are ok too and they were. the brake calipers and rotors look fine as well. the tranny has the correct amount of fluid. could it be the wheels bearings? how can i inspect them?

thanks in advance for any help!

 

i would try tightening your lugs nuts to see if the sound goes away.

 

Jack your car up in the front and see if there is any play in the wheel. Grab the tire and shake it. Also rotate the tires by hand and see if it makes the noise.

 

It's your bearings. 100% sure.

 

i agree 100% its bearings. buy new axles.

 

You and I have the same problem . Tax season's coming up so Wheels+Tire's+wheel bearings are on my to buy list.

 

Why buy new axles if it's the bearings???

 

Thats what I was wondering.

 

same kinda deal happened to me...if you notice a change in the sound with the direction of the steering wheel, id defly say its bearings...funny thing was, with mine, ther wheels had no play in them, but the bearings were still bad

 

^ agreed man. like i said there was no uneven tire wear but i guess it's the bearings. the car did get a big fender bender up front and i suspect the side that got hit has the bad bearing (DUH!). thanks guys!

 

From the sounds of it I'd agree you have a bad wheel bearing (front or rear). When you turn the steering wheel and shift the weight of the car to one side to the other side you are unloading the weight of the vehicle from the tires. When you unload the weight from the bad wheel bearing the sound will go away, but when turning the wheel back the other way it will start to growl again. That's a classic sign of a bad wheel bearing.

Also, if you want to go the extra mile do like Devney said and jack the car up and shake down the tires. Grab the top and bottom of each tire and try to shake it back and forth. If you get any play it is most likely a bad wheel bearing.

 

Yeah, I have the same kind of sound coming from mine and I'm pretty sure it's the wheel bearing...

 

Agreed 100%.

But if you shake the wheel up and down and there is no movement, it could still be the bearing. They are pressed in so unless you have the necessary tools needed, take the spindle to a shop and have them press em.

 

Ive been having the same problem with mine... ive replaced the whole hub setup twice and the sound went away this time but my rotor was messed up due to the last bad bearing.. my car pulls to the left a bit and the sound seems like it has gotten worse since ive replaced it (2 days ago)... could this be my rotor and brakes? the bearing was for sure good when i put it on... if this is my bearing what could be causing it to keep going out? please any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

how long does a bad wheel bearing last? and what happens when it goes out?


mine just started having play a few days ago it goes up down and left and right but no noise.

 

It might be cheaper for ya'll to just get a new/used knuckle. I tried replacing a wheel bearing in my old hatch last weekend, pressing it out with a 60,000 pound arbor press and it wouldnt come and bent the caliper tab on the knuckle (thats a heck of a lot a force) and it didnt come out. The wheel bearing from advance was like $40, but we're putting a diff knuckle on it now

 

yea, that kinda was my plan so far is getting another spindle. or go ahead and put my ex/si spindles on.

 

Sound gets way worse as you keep it in use. Its just simply unsafe would you want to find out @ 50 + mph what could happen? Have you ever seen a car on the side of the road with no wheel and a rotor dug into the pavement, then wondered to yourself how it happened?

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing to me also, I just had mine replaced yesterday on the front passenger side. Sounded like a rubbing type noise to me everytime the wheel turned and made the car shaky. I also did resurfaced my rotors before hand and the noise was stilll there. Somebody else I read mentioned jacking the front of the car off the ground (both wheels) and shake the tear around to see if theres any play... ^_^

 

put the car on stands, put one hand on the coil of yur suspension and with the other hand turn the wheel as fast as you can, if you feel on the suspention hand, youve got a wheel bearing winner