I am experiencing some really loud road noise in my 99 accord ex v6 coupe. It's lowered with H&R stage 2 springs and has Dayton Daytona tires on the stock wheels. My front tires are basically bald, and my rears are almost full tread. The sound is like a really loud humming that changes pitch depending on how fast I go. It usually becomes audible around 35-40mph, and gets damn annoying at about 60.

Is the road noise from the tires or from something I should be more concerned about.

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing... if it's not that.. then it could be your tires are clamshelled from being worn down with the camber and toe settings off. This would be a loud annoying hum as you are driving.

 

Clamshelled? Can someone explain that?

 

Basically I think what he is saying is that your tires are "Cupped" in other words there is a space on your tires that is no longer making contact with the road. So as you speed, it makes noise .. if that makes sense.

 

Right... and this happens when you lower you car more than an inch and don't get an alignment done and drive on it for a while.

An alignment consists of camber and toe adjustments. If your toe is off... your tires will drag.. and cause them to be clamshelled... which in time will cause some SERIOUS tire hum.

If your problem turns out to NOT be the wheel bearing... get new tires and an alignment done (camber/toe) and you'll be good to go.

 

does the noise change in a turn? louder? quieter?

 

You might want to check the brakes. If they're too worn out, you'll hear this loud screeching noise whenever you're driving that doesn't stop till you change pads.

 

I've had the brakes replaced twice. That's fine. I've had an alignment after I lowered, so I'm pretty sure that's fine. It's a humming noise that changes pitch depending on my speed.

 

If it doesn't change pitch or tone in a curve, like an exit ramp, then it's most likely not a wheel bearing

if it is at all related to tire noise, it will be different on different surfaces. like between asphault and concrete

 

ive got the same noise in my 00. it goes away when i take a hard left (kinda), and the faster i go the louder it gets. so it is probably the right-rear wheel main bearing, right?

 

probably left front, but they play tricks on you. I swore my left front one was bad but it turned out to be the right front.

I got REALLY lould eventually. you can drive on it for a little while before it gets too bad.

 

Jack the car up and spin the wheel. If it doesn't spin freely.. it's the wheel bearing..

 

good idea! thanks Pablo!