Tire road noise not caused by tire??

[timmaayyx]

Recently started hearing a whirring noise coming from front passenger tire that sounds like road noise, but louder. I rotated tires with no change in sound. While I had it jacked up, I noticed a lot of movement with the whole hub/rotor setup. I checked the driver side and there was no movement. It seems like there might be a part that has worn or become loose.

Any thoughts?? Has this happened to anyone else. I'm not that experienced, so sorry if this is a newbie question.

 

[Rebar]

Recently started hearing a whirring noise coming from front passenger tire that sounds like road noise, but louder. I rotated tires with no change in sound. While I had it jacked up, I noticed a lot of movement with the whole hub/rotor setup. I checked the driver side and there was no movement. It seems like there might be a part that has worn or become loose.

Any thoughts?? Has this happened to anyone else. I'm not that experienced, so sorry if this is a newbie question.

I am no expert, but I know hub bearings can make noise when they go bad and can cause some movement. (Experienced this in other vehicles)

That said, safety issues come to mind.

 

[timmaayyx]

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I'm taking it to the shop early this coming week, just wanted an idea before doing so.

 

[BROOKLYN]

I have the same exact problem, what tires are you running

 

[timmaayyx]

Dunlop a/t 20s. Funds were tight so I grabbed them used (about 500 miles) off a friend upgrading a '12 4runner. As I said, I rotated the tires around to see if a different tire would make the same noise, but the sound stayed the same leading me to believe its not tire related

 

[jdkilroy]

Probably pretty obvious but for peace of mind, I would avoid the highway (or high speeds) until you get this sorted out.

 

[STAYGOLD]

if the hub bearing is bad you should be able to tell by jacking it up off the ground and grabbing it at 6 and 12 o'clock. a good hub assembly will have little to no play in and out (assuming your ball joints and tie rods are not the cause of the play). also spin them while listening and feeling for grinding/noise.

ball joints can be checked the same way except check movement side to side instead of in and out.

 

[timmaayyx]

Thanks for the info! I did jack it up yesterday and there was noticeable play in and out.

 

[STAYGOLD]

if you've identified that as the problem,

i suggest buying oem or an expensive/high quality replacement. i flip cars in college and replaced some on a jeep cherokee i bought last month to fix up and cheaped out on the hub bearings only to have the actual STUDS break off a few days later on both parts. scary, to say the least. additionally, ive had lower quality replacements on other vehicles ive flipped not ride smoothly (slight grinding/friction feeling). just my .02.

best of luck with the repair

 

[Sungod]

Sounds like wheel bearings which are fairly common. Does the sound go away when you turn to the left or right? That is usually a pretty good indicator of wheel bearings, but not always 100%. Obvisously any movement when jacked up is bad.