Help Request - Front End Vibration/Hum

[anotherrunner83]

Alright, here's my situation (and before the berating starts, I've combed through past threads for two days looking for answers)

On a recent road trip, I noticed a hum and high frequency, low amplitude vibration that I could feel through the floor and slight feedback through the steering wheel. The noise did seem to change when turning so, after checking the calipers and rotating the tires with no improvement, I chalked this up to a front left wheel bearing. I did notice a clicking sound when shaking the wheel on that side, which helped with my wheel bearing theory. I compared this side with the driver side which spun freely and made no clicks when rocking the tire.

So I order and replace the whole hub assembly. Got the truck back together and go for a test ride, the vibration has not changed at all. Under acceleration I do not notice it. When the truck is cruising you hear the hum and feel the vibration. If you go around a curve, the pitch changes, but it is still present. I took the tire back off and inspected the front axle shaft. There is a small amount of axle grease around one of the CV boots, but the area around it is relatively clean. So this makes me thing I haven't lost a lot of grease. I did hear a slight rubbing sound (imagine two sheets of paper rubbing together) that I think is coming from the bearings inside the boot. I also checked the universal joints and they were all clean and tight.

Any ideas? Could I have done the wrong side? This is a 2008 V8 with 157,000 miles. It has not been abused so the axle bearings failing seems to be a stretch to me. I had an 88 with over 250,000 and a 94 with 240,000 miles and never had to replace a half shaft or wheel bearing...and those had the sh!t beat out of them pretty regularly.

 

[NuclearN8]

check all your bushings, sway bar, UCA's, LCA's... They tend to make noise as time progresses although I'm not sure about the vibration (does the steering wheel vibrate as well?)...

frozen caliper?

did it start after your wheel spacers or leveling kit was installed? Just trying do the sesame street troubleshoot "I did this, then this happened... one of these things is not like the other"....

alignment? how old are your tires (i see you have some miles on the truck)

start by ruling out the easy stuff, it sounds like you dove right in and go on you for that.

 

[4.0sr5]

I am experiencing the same rumble type noise front drivers side. Sounds to me like a wheel bearing, however I've had two mechanics check (I don't have much faith in most mechanics) both stated the wheel bearings were not the issue, and its probably my tires. I have probably about 5-10k miles on Mastercraft ATXs. I noticed some scalloping on my treads. Do you have aggressive tires? if so, try driving over sand or loose gravel. If the noise changes might be your tires. I'm thinking its my drivers side half shaft, noticed the inboard seal was leaking so I added grease and used a stainless hose clamp (no change in sound, but there was a substantial amount of water that i removed from the boot during the repair). Also changed the front diff fluid, it was black and gray paste covered the magnet (probably never changed in 130k miles, no change in sound). I am just taking their word for it for now. Until the noise becomes more pronounced, this way i don't buy parts for no reason. If i were to purchase anything, it would be a drivers side CV axle (purely on speculation and no real reason other than the condition i found the inboard boot and u-joint). Hope this offers some direction.

 

[preacher35]

I am experiencing the same rumble type noise front drivers side. Sounds to me like a wheel bearing, however I've had two mechanics check (I don't have much faith in most mechanics) both stated the wheel bearings were not the issue, and its probably my tires. I have probably about 5-10k miles on Mastercraft ATXs. I noticed some scalloping on my treads. Do you have aggressive tires? if so, try driving over sand or loose gravel. If the noise changes might be your tires. I'm thinking its my drivers side half shaft, noticed the inboard seal was leaking so I added grease and used a stainless hose clamp (no change in sound, but there was a substantial amount of water that i removed from the boot during the repair). Also changed the front diff fluid, it was black and gray paste covered the magnet (probably never changed in 130k miles, no change in sound). I am just taking their word for it for now. Until the noise becomes more pronounced, this way i don't buy parts for no reason. If i were to purchase anything, it would be a drivers side CV axle (purely on speculation and no real reason other than the condition i found the inboard boot and u-joint). Hope this offers some direction.

A bad wheel bearing is going to sound just like a propeller driven aircraft and the sound gets louder with direct speed, NOT engine RPM. Vibration is usually not an issue. Thus, this sounds more like tire or caliper issue.

 

[zopperman]

i'd do the other bearing - can be tricky to tell where they come from. Usually if you turn left and get symptoms its the right bearing and vice versa

also "clicking" can be indicative of a bad CV. Shake the axle and see if it has abnormal amounts of play

 

[nevada]

Alright, here's my situation (and before the berating starts, I've combed through past threads for two days looking for answers)

On a recent road trip, I noticed a hum and high frequency, low amplitude vibration that I could feel through the floor and slight feedback through the steering wheel. The noise did seem to change when turning so, after checking the calipers and rotating the tires with no improvement, I chalked this up to a front left wheel bearing. I did notice a clicking sound when shaking the wheel on that side, which helped with my wheel bearing theory. I compared this side with the driver side which spun freely and made no clicks when rocking the tire.

So I order and replace the whole hub assembly. Got the truck back together and go for a test ride, the vibration has not changed at all. Under acceleration I do not notice it. When the truck is cruising you hear the hum and feel the vibration. If you go around a curve, the pitch changes, but it is still present. I took the tire back off and inspected the front axle shaft. There is a small amount of axle grease around one of the CV boots, but the area around it is relatively clean. So this makes me thing I haven't lost a lot of grease. I did hear a slight rubbing sound (imagine two sheets of paper rubbing together) that I think is coming from the bearings inside the boot. I also checked the universal joints and they were all clean and tight.

Any ideas? Could I have done the wrong side? This is a 2008 V8 with 157,000 miles. It has not been abused so the axle bearings failing seems to be a stretch to me. I had an 88 with over 250,000 and a 94 with 240,000 miles and never had to replace a half shaft or wheel bearing...and those had the sh!t beat out of them pretty regularly.

2 completely different types of bearings. the 08 uses a sealed, non serviceable bearing, while the others uses separate bearings, and races. that can be service, cleaned and re-greased periodically. these will run indefinitely with proper maintenance.

i'd do the other bearing - can be tricky to tell where they come from. Usually if you turn left and get symptoms its the right bearing and vice versa

also "clicking" can be indicative of a bad CV. Shake the axle and see if it has abnormal amounts of play

this is very true. while it is a sealed bearing, it still has an inner and outer bearing. sometimes the inner bearing goes bad, and the sound transmits across the axle, and sounds like its on the other side. I have run into this MANY times at the shop.

you really have to verify with a stethoscope, which bearing is bad.

get it up on jackstands, and run it in gear. for a 2wd, have someone spin the tire, while you listen. you will be able to hear the bad bearing.

 

[anotherrunner83]

check all your bushings, sway bar, UCA's, LCA's... They tend to make noise as time progresses although I'm not sure about the vibration (does the steering wheel vibrate as well?)...

frozen caliper?

did it start after your wheel spacers or leveling kit was installed? Just trying do the sesame street troubleshoot "I did this, then this happened... one of these things is not like the other"....

alignment? how old are your tires (i see you have some miles on the truck)

start by ruling out the easy stuff, it sounds like you dove right in and go on you for that.

i've been running the leveling kit and wheel spacers for 120,000+ miles with no issues. this just started up about 2 weeks ago.

i have a very slight vibration through the steering wheel, but it seems to match the vibration i'm feeling through the floor. i'm running michelin ms2 and have about 60k on them, but with plenty of tread left and even wear.

for the caliper, i checked the passenger side before tearing everything down and it moved freely. i replaced the driver side caliper about 2 months ago, didn't think to check that one as i would not expect it to fail in 2 months...

and i rotated the tires. if it were a tire, i would have expected a change.

 

[anotherrunner83]

get it up on jackstands, and run it in gear. for a 2wd, have someone spin the tire, while you listen. you will be able to hear the bad bearing.

i did this last night. the only sound i heard at all was the slight rubbing sound i heard coming from the passenger side half shaft. everything else was whisper quiet.

 

[Greydog]

When you had the passenger side caliper off did you remove the brake disc and spin the hub?

If that's not it, perhaps rear wheel bearing noise? They don't last forever on the 4th gen, so it's possible.

 

[anotherrunner83]

When you had the passenger side caliper off did you remove the brake disc and spin the hub?

If that's not it, perhaps rear wheel bearing noise? They don't last forever on the 4th gen, so it's possible.

passenger side hub assembly was what i replaced based on what i was hearing/feeling.

 

[nevada]

i did this last night. the only sound i heard at all was the slight rubbing sound i heard coming from the passenger side half shaft. everything else was whisper quiet.

did you use a stethoscope?

even a long handle screwdriver or pry bar will work.

 

[anotherrunner83]

did you use a stethoscope?

even a long handle screwdriver or pry bar will work.

no, i didn't. what static mount/part would you listen on to find the failure? there aren't many places that are easy/safe to get to while things are turning. sorry if that's a dumb question, not familiar with using a stethoscope for diagnosing issues.

 

[anotherrunner83]

[MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] any thoughts on this one?

 

[nevada]

no, i didn't. what static mount/part would you listen on to find the failure? there aren't many places that are easy/safe to get to while things are turning. sorry if that's a dumb question, not familiar with using a stethoscope for diagnosing issues.

right at the back side of the steering knuckle. as close to the cv as you can get without actually touching it.

 

[anotherrunner83]

Okay, borrowed a scope from work and compared the sides. No difference. I greased all U/Vs and slip yokes. Went for a ride. Still. There.

Did notice that when turning right the noise seems to go away which, again, points to the passenger side, under the standard wheel bearing test logic. I'm wondering if it's the inner bearing on the driver side that has failed. I would expect that these could be very difficult to diagnose since there are two conical bearings per side. I don't think the standard test applies to this type of set up. I'm starting to think it's the driver side.

 

[nevada]

Okay, borrowed a scope from work and compared the sides. No difference. I greased all U/Vs and slip yokes. Went for a ride. Still. There.

Did notice that when turning right the noise seems to go away which, again, points to the passenger side, under the standard wheel bearing test logic. I'm wondering if it's the inner bearing on the driver side that has failed. I would expect that these could be very difficult to diagnose since there are two conical bearings per side. I don't think the standard test applies to this type of set up. I'm starting to think it's the driver side.

the above test will work, either bearing will make noise, and be louder on that side.

maybe its a rear bearing instead? did you check those?

 

[anotherrunner83]

yep, checked the rear as well and also checked the rear diff and front diff. i did not hear anything that was a clear "i'm the culprit". the more i think about it the more i lean towards driver side wheel bearing, just hate to keep buying parts when i'm not sure. i guess i'll tear into the driver side tomorrow and see if there are any smoking guns. i didn't notice anything while rotating the tires, so i'll pull the rotor and dust cap off and pop the axle nut loose to see if there is anything there. might go ahead and take the hub assembly out and check it too.

 

[anotherrunner83]

PS, thanks for the input. I'm really at a loss at the moment.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

When does this occur? I had a similar issue between a certain speed range that ended up being an issue in the front differential (I assume this is a 4WD).

My issue:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/105459-driveline-drone-freeway.html

 

[anotherrunner83]

When does this occur? I had a similar issue between a certain speed range that ended up being an issue in the front differential (I assume this is a 4WD).

My issue:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/105459-driveline-drone-freeway.html

yes, i'm full time 4WD.

it starts as soon as i'm rolling and gets louder as i pick up speed. you really start to notice it around 5 to 10 mph. the noise definitely lightens when turning to the right. i have a nice long uphill curve on my way to work and the noise was all but nonexistent all the way around that curve.