I have a 2009 Limited, V6, ~ 74K miles. A little more than a year ago I had the brakes redone after market pads and rotors all around and a month later I changed the tires from Michielen Cross terrain tires to Firestone Destination LE2s. Not too long after this time as a maintenance check I had the fluids checked in the transfer cases and the differentials and everything checked out and the fluids looked like new. I also had the joints greased. After several months of running starting in early November I noticed and increase in road noise starting at 25 - 30 mph ? Could this just be tires ? I just had the oil changed and the tires rotated and they said everything looked fine and sounded good. Even tire wear all around so no alignment issues. Could the tires just be collecting stuff from the winter road treatments? I didn't notice this type of road noise with the Michelin tires I had with a lot of miles on them. If you turn up the radio the noise is not to noticeable.
Road noise starting at 25 - 30 MPH, tires the cause?
- Thread starter JCSTEW
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Troymclure
New member
I dont think this is the tires. It could be, since they generally get louder with time, but not all of the sudden. When mine started making noises at that speed, the wheel bearing was on the way out.
wnelax04sr5
New member
can you tell where the noise is coming from specifically or is it not discernible?
I ask my local mechanic guy specifically if there could a wheel bearing issue and he said no. I have driven with this issues for about 3000 miles now and it does not appear to be getting worse. Also, I really can't tell exactly where the sound is coming from. Also, take it up to 65 of more and it does not get much louder. If you have a bad wheel bearing would the hub area get hot? I checked this with my infrared temp scan gun and all 4 wheel hubs / rotors were about the same temp.
wnelax04sr5
New member
wheel bearing you wouldnt feel get hot. i had a wheel bearing going out that made the same sound at the same speeds, i drove with it like that for almost 5k miles without replacing it and the sound never really changed, so don't rule it out just yet
How did you narrow down which wheel had the bad bearing? Right now if turn on the radio I can kind of ignore the sound. But I know something is different. Also, I am wondering if a wheel bearing would be covered under my Toyota Warrantee I got when when I bought this as a Certified vehicle. I got a 6 year 125K mile Toyota Warrantee. If wheel bearings are not classified as a normal wear item then it would be covered I guess. In any event how did you tell which wheel had the bad bearing? Thanks for all your help.
SellSwords
New member
My sister's G35 had a bad wheel bearing in the right rear and her car had the same symptom. Is your alignment good?
wnelax04sr5
New member
heres how i did it and its obvious if you have a bad one.
jack up one of the front wheels, leave it on, grab a hold of the shock right under where the coil perch is, then rotate the wheel. if you feel vibrations or resistance as you turn the wheel, or both, thats indicative of a bad wheel bearing. you'll know which is good and which is bad if you only have one on the front. i don't have a method for the rear, but something similar could be thought up
I have been driving it for a litte over 3 years and I changed the tires about a year ago. It does not pull to the right or left and it does not drift. Tires have always had even wear. The tires were rotated a month ago and the mechanic guy said tire wear was even no issues. Could it still be just an alinement issue? Same guy changed my oil and lubed everything and he said everything checked out. He didn't think I had any wheel bearing issues. All said and done i still hear some thing. Could a 4 wheel alignment help? Should I had a 4 wheel alignment when I changed the tires? It appeared to be fine for months after the tire swap. I don't off road with this so should the alignment hold true. It is a 4runner.
