Hello,

I'm hoping to get some advice on whether or not this is regular road noise or a bad wheel bearing. I have recorded a video which you can hear the noise pretty clearly.

I recently put brand new tires on the car (General Altimax RT43), but the noise was there before the new tires (I was hoping it was due to old tires). I have also changed the rear differential fluid with no change.

The noise is always there, and doesn't seem to change even with hard turning as you will see in the video. This is what throws me off of whether or not it's a bad wheel bearing. The noise is not connected to the drive train as the noise pitch follows the speed of the car and does not change with revs (even in neutral).

Although you can hear the noise at all speeds, it is first noticeable at 40 MPH, and then really noticeable at 50+. I plan on attempting to inspect each wheel bearing by taking off the wheels and looking for play and also feeling for roughness when turning the hub.

I wanted to get anyone's opinion to see if perhaps I'm missing something else entirely, or if anyone had any tips for when I attempt to inspect them. Or perhaps that it's just loud tires... seems a bit ridiculous to me though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swo3...ature=youtu.be

You can really start to hear the sound at about the 35 second mark as I approach 50 mph+.

Thanks for any advice.

 

If you sway the car when the noise is apparent and the tone of the noise is unchanged, it's more than likely not a wheel bearing. Quite honestly from what I can hear in that video, it sounds more like differential bearings in the transmission.

To check, safely lift and get under the car and rock the inner joints of the axles one at a time while checking the other side. If you rock the drivers side and there is movement on the passenger side inner joint, the bearing at the differential are bad.

 

Hi Almighty-SI, thanks for the response.

This is very interesting. Would a transmission bearing stop making noise after I switch to neutral while at speed or is this something that is constantly engaged?

In any event, this is out of my league as far as DIY. As far as taking it to a shop, do you know what kind if trouble I could be facing? Thanks

 

I ended up taking this to a certified shop that also specializes in transmissions. They have diagnosed it as the rear passenger wheel bearing. Hopefully this is the case and will resolve the issue, will update one last time if it is.

 

As long as the wheels are turning it will make noise.

Now that I watch the video again, it does seem when you were making that long sweeping left (1:07 mark), the noise was more pronounced, so wheel bearing is probably the right diagnosis.