Tire hum ?

[Victor S]

We bought a 2007 Chevrolet Uplander LT that was 8 months old when we purchased it the end of January of this year. It had a little over 24,000 miles on it.

When the vehicle reaches a speed of over 35 miles an hour I can hear a humming sound that seems to be coming from the tires. When I reduce the speed, the sound eventually goes away.

I try to ignore this sound, but it has me baffled.

[spike88]

Our other vehicle had a humming in its front tires as well. It would mostly hum when going faster - compared to slow city driving. Sometimes it would hum and other times, it didn't. But as time went on, its hum sound got louder and louder (and more predictable). We checked tire inflation, we checked its remaining brake pad thickness and we even checked for something rubbing (with each front tire off the ground). And, also did a visual to check for a tire that had a slipped inner layer of rubber (with no vibration on its steering wheel). We couldn't find anything wrong with it.

One day, we took this 2003 Buick RDV into into our trusted mechanic and he told me it was its wheel bearings. Both of them were gone.

Our choices were:
- Leave "as is" and trade the vehicle in.
- Replace with "el-cheap-o" wheel bearing replacements and sell soon after.
- Replace with expensive (Mopar ???) wheel bearings and drive it the rest of its life.

If wondering... Today, this vehicle now drives better then a new vehicle. If possible, we plan to keep this vehicle for another 5+ years. It was well worth replacing both of its wheel bearings...

If you can, do get your trusted mechanic to inspect its rubber and wheel bearings. Is your vehicle still under factory warranty???

.

[Victor S]

Originally Posted by spike88

Our other vehicle had a humming in its front tires as well. It would mostly hum when going faster -

If you can, do get your trusted mechanic to inspect its rubber and wheel bearings. Is your vehicle still under factory warranty???

.

Thanks for the reply Spike. I was thinking it was the bearings, but it was making the sound when it was 8 months old and dismissed that thought from my mind. But, with it having had 24,000, I suppose there has been some wear and tear on the bearings.

It is under factory warranty. I will schedule an appointment with my Chevy dealer.

[SLJ2137694]

Some tire tread patterns are noisier than others. I have heard tires that sound just like a bad wheel bearing. Do you have any unusual wear on the tires? Tread blocks that wear unevenly will cause noise also. Rotate the tires if wear is noted and that may also be a sign that an alignment is needed.

[Victor S]

Originally Posted by SLJ2137694

Some tire tread patterns are noisier than others. I have heard tires that sound just like a bad wheel bearing. Do you have any unusual wear on the tires? Tread blocks that wear unevenly will cause noise also. Rotate the tires if wear is noted and that may also be a sign that an alignment is needed.

Thanks for the tip. Been a bit busy at work due to the College World Series here in town, but I will have the dealer rotate them. The tires have plenty of tread on them. The vehicle is 13 months old now...but it has 27,000 miles on it, so you may have a point.

Our other van, a 1996 Chevy Lumina does not make this noise.