Humming/whine noise from front

cgalpha08 · August 27, 2019

All,

I have a 2015 silverado extended cab 4wd with 45xxx miles on it. This past weekend I changed all 4 rotors and respective pads with the powerstop z17 kit. My rotors were warped and would cause the truck to shake when braking at high speeds.

At the same time I rotated the tires since i had them all off anyway and it was due for it.

I am now getting what sounds like a humming noise/whine from the drivers front of the vehicle, kicks in around 30 mph and stays relatively consistent in noise and feel at higher speeds, has a slight increase to it as you're working your way up to 70-75 mph, but at those speeds its hard to hear it, too much other road noise. You can also kinda keep it in the drivers floorboard as well.

My questions is, did i screw something up during the install or tire rotation that would cause this noise? I torqued the lugs to 140 Ft-lbs (I believe that's the correct spec)

The only other difference is that the set screw that holds the rotor on the hub is present on the drivers but not the passenger side, i had to drill that one out as it was stripped. ( i don't think that really makes a difference anyway)

I want to lean towards it being a wheel bearing, i tried the swerve test method and it seems the noise is present in both turning directions.

It does remind me of a pinion bearing going bad noise, however i doubt its that as i have maybe used the 4wd system for a grand total of 100 miles over the years.

Any thoughts or insights are much appreciated. Thanks.

Edited August 27, 2019 by cgalpha08

diyer2 · August 27, 2019

Jack it up and check the front bearings.

Put the tires back and see if it makes a difference.

kickass audio · August 27, 2019

try this, jack up the front end of the truck so both tires are off the ground and spin the wheel around while you grab onto the spring. If the bearing is going you will feel the vibration through the spring on the affected wheel. The set screw would not cause your problem. It's just there as a way to prevent the rotor from falling and killing a worker on the assembly line when the truck is built. The fronts have the screws and the rear has the copper ring on the stud to keep the rotors held on. I would also recommend taking a look at your CV shafts. At your mileage they should be perfect but never hurts to make sure it isn't damaged or anything. Engage your 4 wheel drive and see if your noise is better, worse or stays the same just don't turn the wheel in 4wd on dry pavement. Drive in a straight line only.

cgalpha08 · August 27, 2019

17 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

Jack it up and check the front bearings.

Put the tires back and see if it makes a difference.

8 minutes ago, kickass audio said:

try this, jack up the front end of the truck so both tires are off the ground and spin the wheel around while you grab onto the spring. If the bearing is going you will feel the vibration through the spring on the affected wheel. The set screw would not cause your problem. It's just there as a way to prevent the rotor from falling and killing a worker on the assembly line when the truck is built. The fronts have the screws and the rear has the copper ring on the stud to keep the rotors held on. I would also recommend taking a look at your CV shafts. At your mileage they should be perfect but never hurts to make sure it isn't damaged or anything. Engage your 4 wheel drive and see if your noise is better, worse or stays the same just don't turn the wheel in 4wd on dry pavement. Drive in a straight line only.

Thanks guys, i will try all of that. I had heard of the method where you grab the tire at 12 and 6 to see if it wobbles to check the bearing, hadn't hear of the spring method, so i will check both.

If it does go away when the tires are put back in their original location, would that indicate a tire balance issue that i may not have heard as that tire was in the rear before?

aseibel · August 27, 2019

Are your tires significantly worn? are the lugs chopped unevenly? it could just be noise from the tire on the road due to uneven wear. You may not realize how much noise the tires make until you get new ones and its completely quiet again.

cgalpha08 · August 27, 2019

6 minutes ago, aseibel said:

Are your tires significantly worn? are the lugs chopped unevenly? it could just be noise from the tire on the road due to uneven wear. You may not realize how much noise the tires make until you get new ones and its completely quiet again.

Lugs should be even, in theory, although the factory could have screwed that up.

I was also thinking tire noise. My other ride has M/Ts so i know pretty well what those sound like, however this set, the factory bridgestone duellers don't look like they have been wearing unevenly to the naked eye and as a miild A/T i would think the tread pattern isn't aggressive enough to be that loud. I have also rotated them every 5k miles, needed or not and don't recall hearing anything in the past.

cgalpha08 · August 30, 2019

Update:

Jacked up the front end, grabbed both front tires at 12 and 6 o'clock positions to rock them, no movement outside of the tire flexing.

Grabbed the spring on each side and spun the tire, as kickass audio suggested, couldn't feel anything.

I also re-torqued the lugs.

I couldn't hear anything when spinning the tires except on the drivers side a slight sound of brake pad on rotor, however the rotor didnt show any signs of gouging or excessive wear.

I havent returned the wheels to their positions before I rotated them yet so jury is out on that.

Thoughts?

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HeySkippyDog · August 30, 2019

[emoji2369] maybe try undoing the tire rotation.

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cgalpha08 · August 30, 2019

[emoji2369] maybe try undoing the tire rotation.

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Yea I was asking if anyone had any other thoughts as I worked through the process of elimination chain
Thanks.

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cgalpha08 · September 12, 2019

Ok so I unrotated my tires, put then back in their original location prior to all of this. The noise and feeling is 75% reduced or gone. I can still kind of hear it/feel it.

Logic leads me to now believe that it is completely tire related as my symptoms have changed drastically after switching the tire, and that if it was the hub/wheel bearing it would have remained the same audibly regardless of tire.

I have to take the truck in for the brake booster recall anyway so I'll have them rotate and balance the tires at the same time.

Thoughts?

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