Hum From Front Of Truck

[Doozer]

My 2002 Siverado 4wd has developed a hum from the front of the vehicle in the past couple of months. I seemed to notice it after having a wheel alignment. The tires are fairly new-Michelin LTX M/S passenger tires, and the sound could possibly be the tires but I tend to think it's something else. I notice it around 20 mph. and it increases with vehicle speed. I can also feel the vibration in the steering wheel. Placing the trans in neutral has no effect, nor does going into 4wd mode. I've searched this site for this type of noise, but most of the posts ask about a constant hum or whine, not one that increases with speed. It gets annoying if the radio is not played loud. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Rich

[georgerosen06]

u joints perhaps?

[minibike132]

u joints perhaps?

 

a hum from the FRONT of the vehicle

 

I think when you are reading "constant" that they mean in most cases that it is always there while driving. Most people that come in the shop who say constant when questioned actually do not have a constant noise. My guess is a wheel bearing or tire if there is no change in neutral or 4wd.

[GMCrazy777]

it shouldnt be ur tires i had those on my 97 and they didntt make a road noise

[nitro882]

doozer does the sound get louder if you turn the wheel in one direction or the other?

 

I just had a similar thing where i could hear a faint noise coming from the front end that varied with speed and it would get very loud if i turned to the left. In my case it ended up being a right front wheel bearing. I just took it in and had it fixed today.

[seadoons]

I think it would be a safe bet that you have a front wheel bearing going bad. It happens with time. You should take it to a repair shop and they will be able to tell rather quickly if they are going bad or not - they can put your truck on a lift and see if your front tires will "wiggle" back and forth. If so - a bearing is going bad.

 

It will continue to get louder with time and will become dangerous - eventually a wheel bearing can freeze up and the entire tire / wheel assembly will detach from the truck. That is not something you want happening at 70 MPH.

 

I just had my truck's front end looked over and had my idler arm and pitman arm replaced. That, along with an alignment, cost me $700 (a bit high, i think). My wheel bearings were fine but I think they are about $200 each just for the part.

 

Good luck and get it looked at!

[mi.bowtie]

A 2002 Z71 with over 100,00 miles,should have had both, front wheel bearings, and u joint at the the rear axle replaced, by this time. It just Happens

[seadoons]

Well, my truck is a 2002 and I just had it in the shop two days ago to have the idler arm and pitman arm replaced. They looked over the entire drivetrain and said that my bearings, ujoints, and front end all looked good. I have 118K on my truck...

 

Good luck...

[Doozer]

Thanks for the responses, I'm leaning toward wheel bearings too. Tomorrow, I plan on switching the tires from front to rear just to see if there is any difference in the sound. If it stays the same, I'll take it in to have a mechanic look at it. BTW it just turned 76,000 miles.

Thanks,

Rich

[98 Z71 SLT]

Thanks for the responses, I'm leaning toward wheel bearings too. Tomorrow, I plan on switching the tires from front to rear just to see if there is any difference in the sound. If it stays the same, I'll take it in to have a mechanic look at it. BTW it just turned 76,000 miles.

Thanks,

Rich

 

Hang on...you're half-way there in diagnosing your problem!!

 

With a front wheel/tire off the ground, firmly grab the tire at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions, then try and rock the wheel towards you then away from you.

 

If you feel any "looseness" or "notchiness" you found your culprit.

 

You can change your own hub bearing (also called wheel bearing) in 20-30 minutes, with common hand tools.

 

Don't pay somebody else to fix what YOU can diagnose AND repair !!

[2000DV4.8]

Thanks for the responses, I'm leaning toward wheel bearings too. Tomorrow, I plan on switching the tires from front to rear just to see if there is any difference in the sound. If it stays the same, I'll take it in to have a mechanic look at it. BTW it just turned 76,000 miles.

Thanks,

Rich

 

Hang on...you're half-way there in diagnosing your problem!!

 

With a front wheel/tire off the ground, firmly grab the tire at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions, then try and rock the wheel towards you then away from you.

 

If you feel any "looseness" or "notchiness" you found your culprit.

 

You can change your own hub bearing (also called wheel bearing) in 20-30 minutes, with common hand tools.

 

Don't pay somebody else to fix what YOU can diagnose AND repair !!

 

 

+1, except the 20-30 minute part if you live anywhere where they use salt on the roads in the winter. I spent 2 days trying to hammer mine off, before I finally broke out the sledgehammer.

 

It's an extremely straightforward repair, just time consuming if the hub assembly's rusted into the knuckle.

[Doozer]

You can change your own hub bearing (also called wheel bearing) in 20-30 minutes, with common hand tools.

 

Don't pay somebody else to fix what YOU can diagnose AND repair !!

 

I agree, and I'm also aware of Murphy's Law that reflects what DV2000NJ said about a rusted-on hub. I spent a few frustrating days myself trying to free up a front hub on my daughter's 95 Honda Accord. I kept going back to it, not wanting to give up, but couldn't help wondering if I was going to do damage to something with that heavy hammer!

I didn't get a chance to jack the truck up today with the rain, hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks,

Rich

[nitro882]

one other thing while you have it jacked up. Give each front wheel a spin and see if you can hear any noise or if it feels rough. When mine went i could hear it driving for sure and when i jacked it up there was no play in the wheel. I could hear a faint grind(that wasnt brake drag) on the right side when i spun the tire by hand.

 

Btw mine failed with 55k on it, i had the dealer replace it since its still under ext warranty.

[Doozer]

Here's what I've done so far;

Jacked up front wheels, turned wheels by hand, no roughness. holding tire top and bottom, tried to feel for any looseness while push/pulling-none.

Switched font driver's side tire with rear driver's side, no change.

My brother, who has a Chevy Tahoe that is a few years older than my truck, said his front driveshaft can be turned by hand while in 2wd, he checked mine and it doesn't turn. Thinking that possibly the front wheels are in 4wd mode all the time, causing a gear noise, while the truck was in 2wd, I came to a stop on gravel, gave it a sudden hard start and checked the gravel behind the tires to find that only the rear wheels dug in. Seems that the front wheels are not engaged or I'd have seen a patch in the gravel where the front tires dug in.

Does anyone have any suggestions based on these findings before I take to a mechanic?

Thanks,

Rich

[Doozer]

Update: I called a repair shop to ask if I could bring it in for a test drive and the guy on the phone said from what I described, it's probably a wheel bearing and he quoted me about $435.00 for one wheel. After reading the posts on this site as well as a shop manual, I decided I'd change it myself. I went to Napa and bought their better $250.00 hub/bearing assembly, but I want to make sure I replace the correct side. I can hear the sound coming from the left front, but turning to the right makes the sound go away. Since the posts I've read indicate the right wheel bearing as the culprit if it gets quiet on a right turn, and I hear it on the left, I'm not sure which one is at fault, or if maybe this is some other problem I'm not thinking of. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Rich