So I have a 1997 civic LX. It's been rather loud lately. I will be driving, and after about 10 mph, it will sound like I'm driving on 35" mud tires. Just a loud, deep hum that gets louder the faster I go. I jacked the car up and push/pulled on the wheels to check the bearings and there is no play at all, so I don't think its the wheel bearings. I'm running 16" Falken 912's rear, and Nexen N3000's up front. I do need to replace my cv boots bcuz they are ripped (could that be the cause of the noise?). Anyway, anyone have any input? Also there's no wobble noise that would be associated with wheel bearings being bad. Just a consistent hum that gets louder the faster I go. It sounds like a tire noise, but it just seems kinda loud.

 

any changes in tires since the noise became louder?

 

Yes, but noise didn't get louder. It stayed the same.

 

Sounds like bearings. I've seen several hondas with bad bearings that had no play at all. And def change the cv boots if they are ripped before the joints start clicking when you turn.

 

How are your shocks? You might want to check them too...blown shocks will cause abnormal tire wear, which will result in excessive tire noise too. If it's your wheel bearings, you'll hear the sound coming from one or more corners of the car...when my left wheel bearing went bad, it sounded like I was being tailed by a papparazi on a 2-stroke mini bike.

fm

 

Some tires get louder when they start to wear out.

But it could also be a wheel bearing, they wont necessarily have play in them when they are worn. And a bad wheel bearing usually sounds like your on big mud tires.