95 LX w/ 167k. Has no powersteering, and is lowered 2 inches in the front, 1.75 in the rear. A year ago I bought new tires and had them put on and noticed a slight road noise at 30-35mph, after those speeds it would just go away so I didn't pay it any mind. It sounded like it was in sync with the rotation of the tire, and it still does it. But within the past 200 miles, along with that noise - there's a new one that starts at 40. It's a constant "humming" I guess, and gets louder with speed to the point where I have to turn the music all the way up and I can still hear it. It's 5x worse with the windows rolled up, but definitely still audible with them down. I'm having the tires rebalanced but I'm really not sure if that's the problem. Any ideas?

 

Could be your wheel bearings? Which are replace by getting new hubs.

 

sounds like wheel bearings...

they Humm or screech, and usually theres a spot (near 40 mph for you) that will be the loudest.

To test a wheel bearing...jack up the car...push on the tire with the weight of the car off it. Press on the tire at 12 and 6...do you hear a clunking? or any noise? does it have any play in it? Now press at 3 and 9.... any noise?

If its solid and no noises....take off the tire and try it now....spin the hub (thatll be the part with the wheel studs sticking out of it... notice any grinding? any noise?

any noise = bad bearings.

On the front youll have to pull the brake/rotor...on the rear youll need to get the drum off. If its been making noise a year though, most likely youll get play just by pressing the tire...

I just changed the bearings....15 min job. Hardest part is getting the rotor off the front, on the rear its 10 mins. just pull off the drum...slide out old hub/bearing...and slide in new one.

 

One of the first things I did was check for play/noise and there was nothing on 3 out of 4 wheels. I'll check the other one tonight, but it's the front passenger side and the noise sounds like it's coming from the rear.