tireman
Dedicated LVC Member
Yes, I had that gentle ocillation of the steering wheel too blubomber. It was the wheel bearing. I replaced brakes and rotors, still had the ocillation, so finally replaced the wheel bearing, perfect once again!
front end vibration, what else to check?
- Thread starter bluBomber
- Start date
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
I have a loud, low-pitched hum at 38 to 48mph. Cabin drone is the perfect name for it. No noticeable vibration. Just bought the car with 64k miles, just put on premium front brakes. I think it comes from the new tires I just put on. Had that done at Firestone, the $160/ea. Potenza Pole Position. Awesome rain tire! Good for living in the ATL, as it rains a lot here, especially in the Fall and Winter.
So, I only noticed this cabin drone after the tires were installed. Called Firestone this morning after reading this thread last night. Guy said he doesn't know if they were road force balanced but they usually do on low profile tires. He said probably a wheel bearing is causing the issue. I said well I read on this forum that it's probably road force balancing needed. He agreed to let me come in and get that done for free, since I just bought them.
I will report back with results. Tire shops do seem to love finding extra work to be done, so I'll ask those go getters to see if they can spot any bad wheel bearings while it's up on the rack. I would never let them replace one, I'll do that at my main mechanic's shop with bearings I purchase and bring to him. He charges me full price for hourly labor, but he lets me bring in my own parts and I of course get top of the line premium parts whenever I can. It's a good system.
Having a good relationship with a good mechanic is essential to owning a used/older car. People overlook this simple fact. You can't treat your mechanic like a red-headed stepchild and then expect him to look out for your best interests. Shopping around for repairs is often a bad thing, as it gets you confused and opens you up to possible bad mechanics. In my experience, better to pick one and stick with him. (Assuming you're not a DIY type, which I am not).
I have a loud, low-pitched hum at 38 to 48mph. Cabin drone is the perfect name for it. No noticeable vibration. Just bought the car with 64k miles, just put on premium front brakes. I think it comes from the new tires I just put on. Had that done at Firestone, the $160/ea. Potenza Pole Position. Awesome rain tire! Good for living in the ATL, as it rains a lot here, especially in the Fall and Winter.
So, I only noticed this cabin drone after the tires were installed. Called Firestone this morning after reading this thread last night. Guy said he doesn't know if they were road force balanced but they usually do on low profile tires. He said probably a wheel bearing is causing the issue. I said well I read on this forum that it's probably road force balancing needed. He agreed to let me come in and get that done for free, since I just bought them.
I will report back with results. Tire shops do seem to love finding extra work to be done, so I'll ask those go getters to see if they can spot any bad wheel bearings while it's up on the rack. I would never let them replace one, I'll do that at my main mechanic's shop with bearings I purchase and bring to him. He charges me full price for hourly labor, but he lets me bring in my own parts and I of course get top of the line premium parts whenever I can. It's a good system.
Having a good relationship with a good mechanic is essential to owning a used/older car. People overlook this simple fact. You can't treat your mechanic like a red-headed stepchild and then expect him to look out for your best interests. Shopping around for repairs is often a bad thing, as it gets you confused and opens you up to possible bad mechanics. In my experience, better to pick one and stick with him. (Assuming you're not a DIY type, which I am not).
I had a drone/hum on my wife's '06 that I also thought was the crappy Hankook tires. It was a rear wheel bearing. One was pretty bad and the other was on the way out so I had them both done. IIRC, the damage was just under $500.
By the way, balancing the tires has nothing to do with a drone; it will only help with a vibration induced by an improperly balanced tire.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Yep, no vibration, just that low hum. However, I can only remember hearing it after the tires were put on. I will take the Firestone guy up on another balancing and go from there, since that won't cost me anything.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Update: Went to Firestone yesterday and got a road force balance. The manager tried to convince me it was probably a bearing and wanted to test drive it to determine this. He asked if there was vibration in the steering wheel and at first I said no. Then I thought about it and said yes, there is some vibration, but I can't say that it is excessive. I said I just want to get this done and if it doesn't work, then start changing out bearings. He had me come in a day later than I originally proposed so he could have his best road force technician do it. So, results were the tech removed the right front tire and remounted it in a different orientation. He changed the weights on another tire. And now that I think about it, the tech didn't come back and say "oh sir, we found an obvious bad bearing on such and such wheel" or "this bearing is about to fail".
Driving experience now: Much less cabin drone. It now seems spaced out over a much wider spectrum of speed. The drone that remains doesn't kick in so obviously at 38mph. I hear a slight increase in drone at about 43mph, but it starts and stops softer than before. I can live with it the way it is now and I feel like I've done my due diligence. If a bearing issue comes up now, I will know for sure that it's not a tire issue. 90% of the noise left now seems to be just regular road noise. I love these Potenza Pole Position tires! Maybe they are louder than others, but they handle great and are excellent in the rain, no slip whatsoever.
Thanks for the road force balancing idea! The manager said they were the only Firestone in the area with that equipment. Supposedly, they do road force balancing on all low profile tires. I doubt they did mine, though, based on the results. They were too busy trying to upsell me other work, like back brakes and an alignment, neither of which I needed. I'm so suspicious of tire dealerships. I think they are more shady than regular mechanics. There was a guy in there the same time as me yesterday and they were rattling off all this stuff that was supposedly wrong with his vehicle. It sounded so over the top: all rotors, calipers and pads, and BOTH axles were bent, needed replacing and were leaking (WTF?), on and on, quoted the guy $2,700!
They mess with you far less if you let them know up front you know your vehicle, you know about cars in general and you know about the repair work you want done that day. Give them an inch...
Driving experience now: Much less cabin drone. It now seems spaced out over a much wider spectrum of speed. The drone that remains doesn't kick in so obviously at 38mph. I hear a slight increase in drone at about 43mph, but it starts and stops softer than before. I can live with it the way it is now and I feel like I've done my due diligence. If a bearing issue comes up now, I will know for sure that it's not a tire issue. 90% of the noise left now seems to be just regular road noise. I love these Potenza Pole Position tires! Maybe they are louder than others, but they handle great and are excellent in the rain, no slip whatsoever.
Thanks for the road force balancing idea! The manager said they were the only Firestone in the area with that equipment. Supposedly, they do road force balancing on all low profile tires. I doubt they did mine, though, based on the results. They were too busy trying to upsell me other work, like back brakes and an alignment, neither of which I needed. I'm so suspicious of tire dealerships. I think they are more shady than regular mechanics. There was a guy in there the same time as me yesterday and they were rattling off all this stuff that was supposedly wrong with his vehicle. It sounded so over the top: all rotors, calipers and pads, and BOTH axles were bent, needed replacing and were leaking (WTF?), on and on, quoted the guy $2,700!
They mess with you far less if you let them know up front you know your vehicle, you know about cars in general and you know about the repair work you want done that day. Give them an inch...
Well I mean you can't really see the bearings. The fronts for example, you just replace the whole hub assembly. Rears are another story and if you ever got quoted to change them you'll probably have a heart attack. There is a cheaper way to do them thankfully. Bad wheel bearings are usually diagnosed based on noise.
Also I would always recommend an alignment with a new set of tires.
I still say it's a bearing; my bet is a rear... If you let it go to failure your repair bill will rise exponentially!!! The rear bearings can be replaced, you do NOT need to replace the entire control arm; UNLESS you let the bearing fail.....
My Potenza RE970AS Pole Position's are very quiet. You should get very little road noise.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Thanks for the advice, I'll start reading up on bearings here.
tireman
Dedicated LVC Member
try this
Front wheel bearing replacement is easy unless they are rusted frozen. try to determine which end of the car is doing the oscillating. While driving down the road pull the emergency brake, if you feel the oscillation in the brake handle then you know its in the rear. It could be a bad bearing or a slightly warped rotor.
Front wheel bearing replacement is easy unless they are rusted frozen. try to determine which end of the car is doing the oscillating. While driving down the road pull the emergency brake, if you feel the oscillation in the brake handle then you know its in the rear. It could be a bad bearing or a slightly warped rotor.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Of course, this trick won't work for him. He has a gen II.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Yep, I have the electronic hand brake. Maybe I need one of those big hydraulic jacks so I can spin these wheels and see how they sound with a stethoscope. Meanwhile I'll be listening for any change in noise.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Update: Stopped by my mechanic's shop yesterday and he rode with me over varying conditions for many miles. He couldn't hear anything and I must admit, I couldn't hear much from the passenger seat. That low-pitched hum at about 40-45mph was nonexistent during our drive. Maybe my extra weight on the passenger side temporarily stopped it, I don't know.
Driving alone later yesterday, it didn't do anything for several miles, now I think I hear it again. It's totally possible that it could be related to certain roads that I drive every day on my commute to and from work. I know in my F-150, it sounds awful on a certain strip of concrete interstate with those little gaps in between the sections of concrete. But otherwise, it's a non-issue.
Mechanic says it's definitely NOT bearings, as they would make a roaring sound and not a low hum. So he says don't worry about taking it on a trip next week. Makes me wonder now if it could be some other suspension part on the right side of the car. At any rate, next time I have it in for work I will have him inspect all that while it's up on the lift. For now, I think I'm good.
Driving alone later yesterday, it didn't do anything for several miles, now I think I hear it again. It's totally possible that it could be related to certain roads that I drive every day on my commute to and from work. I know in my F-150, it sounds awful on a certain strip of concrete interstate with those little gaps in between the sections of concrete. But otherwise, it's a non-issue.
Mechanic says it's definitely NOT bearings, as they would make a roaring sound and not a low hum. So he says don't worry about taking it on a trip next week. Makes me wonder now if it could be some other suspension part on the right side of the car. At any rate, next time I have it in for work I will have him inspect all that while it's up on the lift. For now, I think I'm good.
Well..... Mine never roared, it was more of a course hum.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
I've been getting increasingly annoyed with this sound and have been thinking a lot about it. Finally, I decided to replace the front wheel hub/bearing assemblies. I used the SKF brand; mechanic said those were very good. My cost on those with my work discount was only $60/ea. It was $141 labor to install them.
Post-install, I can say that the 42mph hum is diminished, yet not gone completely. What IS gone is the bit of steering wheel vibration I had. I feel like at this point I've taken all the reasonable action I can, so the remaining noise I'm going to call 'road noise' and not worry about it. Was this a waste of money? I don't think so. A few extra weeks of observation led me to the conclusion that this sound was coming from the front of the car, not the back. Since my mechanic could detect no obvious suspension wear, this is the only thing I felt would be worthwhile. I think what I had was some bearings with wear on them, but not failed.
Post-install, I can say that the 42mph hum is diminished, yet not gone completely. What IS gone is the bit of steering wheel vibration I had. I feel like at this point I've taken all the reasonable action I can, so the remaining noise I'm going to call 'road noise' and not worry about it. Was this a waste of money? I don't think so. A few extra weeks of observation led me to the conclusion that this sound was coming from the front of the car, not the back. Since my mechanic could detect no obvious suspension wear, this is the only thing I felt would be worthwhile. I think what I had was some bearings with wear on them, but not failed.
Ranchero50
Well-Known LVC Member
That's good to hear. Mine only does the front end vibration at 70-73 MPH when it's above freezing... I replaced on of the front bearings a couple months ago from noise and just figured the vibration was tires. Now you guys have me thinking hard about the other side bearing...
New to the forum, but wanted to ask how hard it is to replace the front and rear wheel bearings? I was quoted over $1k at the dealership and was wondering whether it's something I can do myself or maybe at an independent auto shop for less?
Thank you in advance
Thank you in advance
Front; pretty easy if you can do the brakes. The rear I had done at an independent. IIRC, it was just over $400 for both rears.
Thank you so much for the info! I'll get started right away.
2005_LS_V8
Active LVC Member
Update! Replaced Firestone tires with Kumhos. No change in the noise. Mechanic replaced rear upper control arms, some improvement. Most recently, he replaced front swaybar inlinks. Fixed! I spent way too much money working on this problem, but I just couldn't ignore it. I want a smooth ride and I finally got it.
He replaced the "end-links"? I got a little confused with "in-links". I'm chasing down a vibration / hum issue as well. But I need to change tires first to rule out flat spots (plus they're old and worn) links are all good so I'm thinking hubs might be an issue.
AmsterDutch
Dedicated LVC Member
How do your sway bar links look?