Loud humming rotational noise in front end like the sound from an off road tire

DUSTINBABIN

MEMBER
2007 TOYOTA COROLLA
1.8L
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
149,000 MILES

Yesterday I had my tires rotated and balanced. Shop told me the tires looked fine. On the drive home I noticed the road noise from the front of the car was much louder than normal. Later that night I jacked the front end off the ground didn't find any noticeable movement up and down or back and forth from the wheels. Then I pulled both of the front wheels off and thought it was odd that while I was taking the lug nuts off, the wheels did not move at all. I had to put some good force behind them to get them off. Which seems odd since I just had them rotated and balanced and the drive back to the house is only about 10 miles. The last time the wheels came off the car was about 10,000 miles ago. Anyhow, while inspecting behind the wheel I didn't notice anything unusual but of course I was under a carport with "okay" lighting. Is there anything in particular I should look for?

Thursday, April 24th, 2014 AT 9:41 AM

2 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,101 POSTS

First, check to make sure the tires are okay. No feathering, belts shifted, and still have a lot of rubber on them. If they are good, I have to ask if the noise sounded like it could be a wheel bearing going bad. However, that doesn't really explain why the noise only changed since the rotation, but anything is possible.

I have to ask, do you mean once all the lug nuts were removed, the wheel didn't want to come off the vehicle? Also, are you feeling any vibration or shaking in the steering wheel or floor of the vehicle?

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Thursday, April 24th, 2014 AT 9:49 AM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,761 POSTS

This is a fairly common occurrence.
On a FWD car the rear tires tend to get an irregular cupping pattern if they are left on the rear too long. Since there is no weight in the rear of the car, you don't hear anything. Once they are moved to the front under the heavy weight of the engine and transmission, now they get loud. This issue will gradually correct itself if the tires are left in this position for a while. More frequent rotation will prevent the problem in the future.

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Thursday, April 24th, 2014 AT 12:12 PM