Strange Noise Help

Hi, I am hoping for some good suggestions on what could be causing
these symptoms. They started occuring all of a sudden, at once.

1. While the car is rolling, whether in gear or in neutral, I can hear
a low frequency sound. It sounds like tread/road noise, but I do not
think that is it. I inspected the tires, and the tires look clear and
fine. I do not notice anything out of the ordinary around the wheels.
Noise is especially noticeable when going fairly slow. The best way to
describe the noise is, it sounds like the knobby tires on a mountain
bike while riding on pavement.

2. I do feel slightly more vibration thru the steering wheel.

The noise and the vibration are all fairly subtle. Thus, I wanted to do
my own research before taking it into a shop.

Thank you for any suggestions!

Jay

"Potato Chip" <jc-googlegroups@jline.com> wrote in message
news:1131086417.238803.210410@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Hi, I am hoping for some good suggestions on what could be causing
> these symptoms. They started occuring all of a sudden, at once.
>
> 1. While the car is rolling, whether in gear or in neutral, I can hear
> a low frequency sound. It sounds like tread/road noise, but I do not
> think that is it. I inspected the tires, and the tires look clear and
> fine. I do not notice anything out of the ordinary around the wheels.
> Noise is especially noticeable when going fairly slow. The best way to
> describe the noise is, it sounds like the knobby tires on a mountain
> bike while riding on pavement.
>
> 2. I do feel slightly more vibration thru the steering wheel.
>
> The noise and the vibration are all fairly subtle. Thus, I wanted to do
> my own research before taking it into a shop.
>
> Thank you for any suggestions!
>
> Jay
>[/color]

Which vehicle, how old, how many miles? Have you tried pumping the tires
with MUCH more pressure than usual, temporarily, just to see if the sound
changes? If not, that eliminates tires as a factor, pretty much.

Thats a wheel bearing with a wear crater forming on the inner race.
Each time a roller goes over it a little pulse is sent into the suspension.
Thus the "snow tires" sound.


"Potato Chip" <jc-googlegroups@jline.com> wrote in message
news:1131086417.238803.210410@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Hi, I am hoping for some good suggestions on what could be causing
> these symptoms. They started occuring all of a sudden, at once.
>
> 1. While the car is rolling, whether in gear or in neutral, I can hear
> a low frequency sound. It sounds like tread/road noise, but I do not
> think that is it. I inspected the tires, and the tires look clear and
> fine. I do not notice anything out of the ordinary around the wheels.
> Noise is especially noticeable when going fairly slow. The best way to
> describe the noise is, it sounds like the knobby tires on a mountain
> bike while riding on pavement.
>
> 2. I do feel slightly more vibration thru the steering wheel.
>
> The noise and the vibration are all fairly subtle. Thus, I wanted to do
> my own research before taking it into a shop.
>
> Thank you for any suggestions!
>
> Jay
>[/color]

I disagree with the inner race theory, I think it IS the tires, But then
again we do not know what brand of tire or vehicle poster is referring to. I
have BFG AT KO's which when brand new were relativley quiet, but as they
wear they have been getting increasingly noisy, on both my Ford and now my
TOY. My bearings in the TOY are new. THe Ford is awful though very loud, So
loud in fact that I had pulled everything to check to find out what the
problems was, I thought the gears were going up in the front!

Searcher

Tires do get old and somtimes sound bad
Malcom
"Searcher1" <ACBRN@CS.ver.aol.com> wrote in message
news:C1dbf.8543$An6.224@trnddc08...[color=blue]
> I disagree with the inner race theory, I think it IS the tires, But then
> again we do not know what brand of tire or vehicle poster is referring to.[/color]
I[color=blue]
> have BFG AT KO's which when brand new were relativley quiet, but as they
> wear they have been getting increasingly noisy, on both my Ford and now my
> TOY. My bearings in the TOY are new. THe Ford is awful though very loud,[/color]
So[color=blue]
> loud in fact that I had pulled everything to check to find out what the
> problems was, I thought the gears were going up in the front!
>
> Searcher
>
>[/color]

ok, thank you for the suggestion. i do feel like it would be something
like the wheel bearings versus the tires making the strange noise.

the vehicle is a toyota tacoma 4x4 1996, but the tires are pretty old.
tires probably have 50k or more miles on them and are close to needing
replacement.

it sounds like i have a few jobs to do on the car now. at least, now, i
can give the shop some directions.

thanks again,
Jay