Wheel Noise

[Zufmeister]

Hi, guys. I have a problem that I was hoping you could help identify the cause of.

I have a slight whining/whistling/rubbing noise coming from my left side wheels on my 2011 SR5. While driving I can't tell if it's from the front or back...but it sounds more from the front. The faster I drive, the more frequent the sound, the slower I drive, the less frequent. When I barely start braking the sound immediately goes away. I lift off the brake and it immediately comes back.

I took my Runner in for it's 25K service and told them about it. They said they "could not replicate the owner's concerns".

Any thoughts on what this sound might be caused by? I plan on taking it back in next week but thought you guys might help me narrow it down and give the dealership some direction.

Thanks!

 

[hokie76]

If it can be clearly heard I would suggest a ride with the service manager. I have had similar issues in the past with other vehicles with the same respond. I even had one service manager to tell me there was nothing wrong with my vehicle...after the second time going back I told him to get in or I was not leaving...bottom line, he heard it and the problem was fixed that day.

 

[philsey]

what [MENTION=102710]hokie76[/MENTION] said. I never, ever, let the service ppl test drive without me onboard. You just have to be fairly sure it's repeatable.

It sounds like a brake squeaker, or emergency brake dragging. Did they check your brakes?

 

[Ron4RNevada]

How many miles on the truck since last brake job? Most likely a glazed or warped rotor.

Pull off both wheels on that side and check out the rotors.

 

[Antman]

It sounds like a brake squeaker, or emergency brake dragging. Did they check your brakes?

Agreed- sounds like the brake wear indicator (Philsey's squeker, lol) is bent and dragging on the rotor, or your pads are worn to the point that it's dragging.

 

[Zufmeister]

Thanks for all the responses.

They did check the brakes when I was there last week and said they'd be fine for a while and there were no safety concerns.

I bought my 4Runner last fall as a Certified Pre-Owned Toyota. The dealer I bought it from showed me their inspection and it indicated they turned the rotors as part of the vehicle qualifying as a Certified Pre-Owned Toyota. It had 19,650 miles on it when I bought it. So just over 5,000 miles since it's last brake job.

My Runner is a 2011 and now has 25,000 miles on it. With that low of mileage I figured most were accumulated in-town so more use of the brakes.

I will give them a call tomorrow and set up another appointment for them to do a ride along with me. Thanks again for all your advice. I'm not a mechanical kinda guy so I struggle figuring out the cause of any problems but I love 4Runners. This one is the 3rd one I've owned.

 

[Zufmeister]

Hi, guys. I wanted to give you an update on my truck.

I took it back to the dealership last week and had one of their techs do a ride along. He said he could also hear the noise I was hearing.

They had the truck for a day and a half. They said they took apart the brakes and cleaned/adjusted/lubricated everything and said the noise was gone. Well I've had the truck for a week now and it's still there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else could be causing the noise. It's not a grinding noise...it's more of a higher pitched whistle sound.

The faster the truck rolls....the faster the sound repeats. The slower the truck rolls....the slower the sound repeats. The sound stops the second I put any pressure on the brake pedal.

Thanks for any advice you guys can provide.

 

[Antman]

Hi, guys. I wanted to give you an update on my truck.

I took it back to the dealership last week and had one of their techs do a ride along. He said he could also hear the noise I was hearing.

They had the truck for a day and a half. They said they took apart the brakes and cleaned/adjusted/lubricated everything and said the noise was gone. Well I've had the truck for a week now and it's still there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else could be causing the noise. It's not a grinding noise...it's more of a higher pitched whistle sound.

The faster the truck rolls....the faster the sound repeats. The slower the truck rolls....the slower the sound repeats. The sound stops the second I put any pressure on the brake pedal.

Thanks for any advice you guys can provide.

If it definitely, for sure, 100% is not the brakes it may be a bad wheel bearing. They have been known to make all sorts of noises while failing. My bearing went bad and I could hear a high pitched sound like you're describing before it started to get really bad.

Stepping on the brake might just take up the play from the bearing and stop the sound (just a theory).

Jack up the truck and see if you have any play in the front wheels. Also, make some turns at speed and see what happens to the noise. If it gets louder or goes away when you turn then you have a bad wheel bearing.

 

[Zufmeister]

Thank you, sir. I've made another appointment at the dealership and take the truck in tomorrow. I'm going to include a list of the possible causes everyone here listed and see if they can figure this thing out.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Hi, guys. I have a problem that I was hoping you could help identify the cause of.

I have a slight whining/whistling/rubbing noise coming from my left side wheels on my 2011 SR5. While driving I can't tell if it's from the front or back...but it sounds more from the front. The faster I drive, the more frequent the sound, the slower I drive, the less frequent. When I barely start braking the sound immediately goes away. I lift off the brake and it immediately comes back.

I took my Runner in for it's 25K service and told them about it. They said they "could not replicate the owner's concerns".

Any thoughts on what this sound might be caused by? I plan on taking it back in next week but thought you guys might help me narrow it down and give the dealership some direction.

Thanks!

I am experiencing the exact same noise on my 2013. I started noticing it last summer, around 20k-25k miles. Last summer I took it to the dealer twice to fix it. The first time the replaced the front pads, and resurfaced the rotors. The 2nd time, they checked the rear breaks, and said the rear parking brake shoe was bent and making contact. Their fix was to re-bend it back to proper shape. Neither visit fixed the noise, and it went away once the weather started getting colder.

Just a few weeks ago, I noticed the noise is back. I noticed it after I had rotated my tires during the 35k mile maintenance. I am not sure if the noise came back because the weather is getting warmer, or because something happened during the tire rotation (Like lugs not torqued properly?)

This weekend I will check the breaks, re-torque the wheels, and check for play in the front wheels like Antman suggested. Are there any other ways to check for bad bearings?

[MENTION=86710]Zufmeister[/MENTION], how loud is the noise you are experiencing? For me, I can't hear it with the windows up, only with the windows down, I can hear the noise slightly, when the sound bounces off a curb, wall, parked car, fence, ect.

It sucks for me, because now the noise is back, I am out of warranty. Although I am not that confident that taking it in for the 3rd time for the same noise would get it fixed....

 

[Zufmeister]

It's not super loud but I can hear it when the windows are up if I really listen for it. But it's definitely easier to hear with the windows down. The easiest way to hear it is to drive inside a parking garage or next to a building so the sound has something to bounce off of.

I wrote up a long note about the sound/problem/symptoms and will give it to the dealership when I take it in tomorrow. I'm going to ask them to keep it as long as they need to in order to fix the problem...and I don't want it back until it is truly fixed. I have other cars I can drive while they have it and am in no rush to get it back.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

It's not super loud but I can hear it when the windows are up if I really listen for it. But it's definitely easier to hear with the windows down. The easiest way to hear it is to drive inside a parking garage or next to a building so the sound has something to bounce off of.

I wrote up a long note about the sound/problem/symptoms and will give it to the dealership when I take it in tomorrow. I'm going to ask them to keep it as long as they need to in order to fix the problem...and I don't want it back until it is truly fixed. I have other cars I can drive while they have it and am in no rush to get it back.

Please let us know what happens!

 

[Whiplash Willy]

It's not super loud but I can hear it when the windows are up if I really listen for it. But it's definitely easier to hear with the windows down. The easiest way to hear it is to drive inside a parking garage or next to a building so the sound has something to bounce off of.

I wrote up a long note about the sound/problem/symptoms and will give it to the dealership when I take it in tomorrow. I'm going to ask them to keep it as long as they need to in order to fix the problem...and I don't want it back until it is truly fixed. I have other cars I can drive while they have it and am in no rush to get it back.

Did they find out what the problem was?

 

[FlyNavy]

3 Bad Bearings

I've been dealing with a whining noise from 30 mph + for the last 30k. I figured it was my tires, despite consistent rotation and incredibly solid wear(Got 70k out of my Hankook Dynapros). Last month I put on Cooper AT3s and was saddened to hear the noise remained. Back to the tire shop. A second alignment and road force balance didn't help. Tech put it up on the rack and put it in gear. To my dismay the rear end roared and groaned like an over-speeding rock tumbler. I thanked the gentleman and promptly drove to the Toyota dealership for their take. Initial thoughts was a bad wheel bearing or the rear diff. They ended up replacing both rear bearings and the left front. Noise is gone and I am now $700 ahead of the game and glad I pulled the trigger on an extended warranty. Big props to Toyota of Ventura and the Toyota Platinum Ext. Warranty. Although troubling to have repairs like this at only 73K, the dealer was professional, accommodating (brand new rental) and thorough in their diagnosis and repair. To those trying to pinpoint their sounds, may I suggest getting on the lift and having somebody go to town with a stethoscope. Once the road and wind noise were gone the source became very obvious. And more importantly, duplicable for the toyota tech that may be conveniently hard of hearing. FYI, the final bill for 3 bearings replaced at the dealership would have been $1995.

 

[Zufmeister]

Did they find out what the problem was?

They called me on Friday and said they had 5 of their techs drive it and say they couldn't hear anything. I asked them to have someone else drive it. They said they would do that and then call me back in 30 minutes. An hour and a half later they said the most recent tech could hear the noise and narrowed it down to a rotor. They said they had to turn it to get it back in balance (or whatever the term is) so that it wasn't rubbing on anything. They told me to pick the truck up, drive it over the weekend, and call them on Monday morning to let them know if it was fixed.

I drove it over the weekend and the noise was gone. Called them back on Monday to let them know and they said "no charge...we should have figured this out 3 visits ago".

Frustrating that it took them so many visits and so long to figure it out. That said, I'm glad it's fixed.

- Zufmeister