Increased Tire Noise: Bad Wheel Bearing or Uneven Tire Wear?

[ericssonfan]

Hey Guys,
I've been noticing an increase in tire noise over the last few days and worried because we've had so many cases of bad bearings on this forum.

First off, I had an alignment done at Altech two days ago on Sat, and I assume they would inspect and not go through with the alignment if there was a bad wheel bearing. Alignment done, no probs.
Turns out my rear cambers were extremely bad (-2.8,-2.9) and I had driven like that for the 2 weeks I had my springs + camber installed (approx 800-1000km). Is there a chance that those 1000km driven on bad camber could have that negative of an effect on tire wear that now that my alignment is fixed, its just normal noise from tire wear?

The noise gets louder with speed but it seems to be uniform; I can't sense it coming from a particular tire; there's no steering wheel shake. It seems to fade/decrease on smoother pavements. It's almost nonexistent at low speeds and doesn't change while turning/changing lanes.

Any help/comments would be appreciated.

[Skip]

hmmm i had a similar issue, and i was worried it was bad wheel bearing as well. Best thing to do is to swap tires/wheels if you have an extra set just to see if it really is the wheels/tires. I had gone to altech after lowering and I had the same symptoms as you with my stock setup, then I switched over to my summers before aligning and voila, no more noise. I have a feeling it could be a bent rim or just uneven tire wear

[ericssonfan]

I'm hoping it's just uneven tire wear.. If it was a bent rim, I'd be able to hear that it's coming from that wheel and the steering wheel/car would vibrate, right?
I just sold my set of stock wheels and the only set I have left are winters.

I'm just hoping it's the fixed alignment on tire tread that was rarely used to to had bad the rear camber was.. I really don't want to take my chances with a bad wheel bearing, but I do want to wait a little to see if it dies down. Then I'll know it was the tire tread evening out. I have a maintenance appt in 4K km, so maybe I'll have the dealership check it out.. The only prob is they might give me the run around like I'm:loco

[royo]

I had the same problem before. At first i thought it was the brake rotors. Turned out to be the front right bearing. It should be covered if your still on warranty though.

[ST3ALTH]

I just went in to get my front right bearing replaced yesterday because of the same noise you are getting, but it is still there, so it may be the front left as well. I have an appointment for tomorrow to get the front right fixed so i will let you know if that changes anything. I have a feeling it has something to do with my tires as well.

[ericssonfan]

Thanks for the replies.. The noise is not as overbearing and annoying as some posted which is why I think it may be tires.. But I've also read that it gets louder with time.

[ericssonfan]

Ok so I just drove the entire DVP and the noise seems to lessen on the newer, smoother parts of the road. At highway speeds, the noise sounds kind of normal how fast I'm going and wind, etc.. But on city streets, the noise is more deep and bassy than normal.
Would my warranty coverage at the dealership be compromised since I'm on lowered aftermarket springs?
Does anybody know what Jimmy charges to inspect the wheel bearings?

Also, if anybody in Scarborough is willing to take a ride with me to see if I'm going crazy or not, that would be appreciated. :)

[ericssonfan]

Ok.. After reading numerous thread of ppl jacking up their car and using the "push/pull" wiggle to see if the bearings are bad, I jacked up each of my wheels and they're on pretty tight.
However, when I jacked up the rear wheels and spun them, there was slight friction with the brake pads.. I'm at almost 53K, and at my 48K @ MoT, I was told my brakes were in great condition and 5-6mm brake pad left.
So now I'm thinking that this extra road noise may be coming from the friction from the brakes, yet I haven't seen a difference in gas mileage.

WTF is going on with my car??

Made an appt with Jimmy @ Street Performance on Friday.. So hopefully it's good news.

[coyote]

Sounds to me like it is just your tires that are making the noise. A little brake rubbing is failry normal when rotating the tires. If there was serious rubbing then you would have worn through your brakes already.
You say the noise changes when you drive on different surfaces. This tells me it is the tires.
You also mentioned you are running Winter tires!? This will make more noise when it warms up. You should really switch to all seasons or summer tires or you won't have any tread left in a couple months.

[ericssonfan]

No, I have my summers on.. I meant I only have my winter set to swap out to test for tire noise.. Which I wont be doing..
The road noise I'm hearing on my summer setup is similar to winter tire road noise but louder.
Flipdady said I shouldn't have any problems with warranty work with aftermarket rims and lowered suspension...
Has anybody had trouble with warranty work refused with aftermarket mods?