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97 altima loud noise from front end


mckinney_noel
10-24-2008, 05:01 PM
I replaced the inner tire rod and alligned the front end. I roated all four tires, there is no movement in any of my tires. Could bad tires or bad roters cause a loud sound when I drive?

methodmix
10-24-2008, 10:24 PM
It could still be a number of things. Check for proper tire inflation (indicated on your driver-side door-jamb info sticker). Tires may have uneven wear from your previous mis-alignment. Wheel bearings could be going bad, which would cause sort of a mild humming sound to a loud roar if really bad. It is possible that your brake pads could be rubbing your rotors, but that's very unlikely.

To check for a bad bearing, engage your emergency brake and carefully jack up the front end of your car. I assume you know how to do this safely, but if not don't proceed unless you know how to do this correctly. Once one of your tires is completely off of the ground move the transmission into neutral (you will have to turn your key to the ACC position first). Slowly start to rotate the free tire with your hand and listen for any strange noises. Gradually increase the speed of rotation. You might hear a mild 'scraping' noise from your brake pads slightly touching your rotors; this could be due to warped rotors, but this is likely not going to be the "loud" noise you are encountering at your front end. If you start to hear a sort of "grinding" noise and feel a little bit of friction as you increase the speed of rotation then this could most likely be a bad wheel bearing.

Note: bad wheel bearings are notorious for becoming very very very loud, almost deafening at highway speeds; warped rotors make a noise only during portions of the wheel rotation where the pad touches the warped portion of the rotor, but a bad bearing is a consistent noise throughout the entire wheel rotation.

Let me know what you find!

mckinney_noel
10-25-2008, 12:03 PM
when i bought this car, the dealer had installed new bearings and cv axels.once inoticed a roar,i tried to align the front..they said it need inner tie rod,it was installed and then it was aligned.i also roated all 4 tires.i also put new front pads on it.with it being able to align, that tells me there sholudnt be any problem with the suspension parts.i tought it mite be a tire problem,but rotating .didnt help noise coimg from the front.iv jacked front end up and grabed the wheel at 12 and 6 ocloclk to check for play..it is tight.i then checked it at 9 and 3 oclock for play...it was tight.u think its a rotor problem or struts or shockes..i wouldnt think all 4 tires are bad. they are a cheaper kind,federal,they were new when i got car..they prolly got10000 miles on em... thanks for responce.

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