weird noise, second opinions wanted.

[2strokebloke]

I wanted some second opinions about a new noise I just began hearing in my car today, coming from the cursed passenger side front wheel.
A sort of harmonic humming noise, that's not constant, "hummm - hummm - hummm" and speeds up the faster I go.
I can only think of two possibilities, either the brand new wheel bearings which barely have 1000 miles on them are already showing serious wear, or it's a missaligned/sticking brake pad rubbing the rotor.
Any other ideas? opinions?

EDIT: seem to have ruled out the the above possibilites, wheel show no play indicating worn wheel dearing, brake pads seemed fine... somebody told me that sometimes the grease in a wheel bearing will "congeal" and result in the noise described above, anybody know if this is true?

[burly]

It could be several things. Improperly tighten lug nuts, tie-rod end wearing out, ball-joint wearing out, CV joint failing, out of round tire, something-else-i-didnt-mention.

It may help to tell us what type of vehicle you have and how many miles are on it.

[2strokebloke]

1978 Renault, 128,000 miles. The upper ball joints are due for replacement. I didn't know that worn ball joints could create a noise like this. Both sides need them, but only one side makes this humming noise, so I'm not so sure that would be it.

[MagicRat]

Mon Dieu!!
Try systematically eliminating the potential source of the noise.
Lift the front end of your Parisian go-kart and support it with jackstands under the lower control arms so they take the weight. Then place it in gear and spin the wheels and see if the noise is there.
If it goes away, then its load related, such as tires or wheel bearings. Otherwise, its the CV joints or brakes at fault.
You can try eliminating the tires by swapping them from front to back and see if the noise is still there.
If this does not work......c'est la vie.

[ajs7477]

You could also try driving the car down a straight road and turn the wheels slightly from right to left to load that side bearing. if it worsens when you do that it probably is the bearing, tires will rarely give the noise increase while loaded.Then jack the car up put it in drive and use a long screwdriver or stethoscope to listen at the bearing on the inside of the knuckle, listening for a gritty sound.