AARONHL

wheel bearing wont sound like much until you hit like 40mph or so then it wound like a deep hum kinda like you are on an airplane

zaz

I just had the rear passenger bearing replaced on my mom's Ford Explorer Limited, which was almost seized, and mine sounds very similar to that as well as what you're describing. So I think it is the bearing. I'm going to take it back to the mechanic now and see what he says.

AARONHL

What i do is take the wheel and brake rotor off and then the bearing hub is exposed. You can spin it freely and a bad bearing will almost seem like there is sand in it, making a very slight noise...since you are somewhat mechanically inclined it's not a hard job to do and you can learn even more about the car doing it yourself

zaz

So I brought it to the mechanic because he's super close by. It was what I suspected most when the sound started very lightly, before balancing. The driver front bearing is shot. I'm going to just get both sides replaced to be safe, because if one is shot, the other one isn't far off.

The filter is also definitely filthy. I was going to order the afe (?) ones off Amazon because they're dry but I don't know if that $145 CAD is for one or a pair.

AARONHL

Cool hopefully that will fix it. It's a real easy job, I have a g35 not sure if the 37s are different but the fornt bearing are one piece on the rwd so it's easy to take it out and put back on without a press

zaz

Okay so updating, it's worst scenario situation. One of the transfer case bearings is shot. Which if I'd get opened up I'd just get all of them replaced. So the dealership is quoting me close to a grand for.

zaz

Alright guys, I just want to get some more advice. The sounds are hard to record, or else this would be much easier. The sound seems to exist to some degree at all speeds, but gets noticeable past 50km/hr. It seems to have the same frequency as the tire turning, and is correlated with speed. It does not appear to get LOUDER per se but but definitely increases frequency with wheel speed. At lower speeds (under 80km/hr?) it sounds more like a metal sliding on metal sound and at higher speeds its closer to the "womp womp womp" sound. It vibrates at my feet, but doesn't appear to vibrate anywhere else, even when I sit in the passenger side. It does appear to get better if I sit on passenger side or someone my weight does, which I tested by having someone sit in the back.

I jacked up the car and there is no play in either wheels. However, the passenger side seems to have less resistance? But I don't know if I'm imagining things at this point. The driver side, however, has a little sliding sound either way when rotating the wheel. It sounds almost like a turbo spooling. Like a "shwooom" sound. The same sound doesn't exist on the passenger side.

Now, I really do think it's a wheel bearing but ever since the one mechanic said it could be my transfer case I've been a bit more worried. What does this sound like? I haven't even heard of a transfer case failing, and it's not like I drove this car super hard. Any advice is helpful, this is driving (lol) me insane. On an hour-long drive to work, my feet feel numb after from the vibration.

AARONHL

It does sound like a wheel bearing, unlikely they would all brake at the same time so try to figure out if it's coming from which of the 4 wheels

zaz

I think it seems to be coming from the driver side front bearing, especially because of how noticeable it is to me but not passengers, but some drivers notice it also. Probably early stages of failure?

AARONHL

take the wheel, brakes caliper and rotor off and spin the bearing. If you hear very slight grinding you need to replace the bearing.

zaz

Yeah that's the plan tonight, if I can keep out of the rain. Picking up a torque wrench and some stands after work.

AARONHL

Might want to take off both fronts to compare them

zaz

Yep that's the plan. I know something is odd about the driver side because it has the UFO sound that the passenger side doesn't. Hopefully I can get it figured out tonight.

AARONHL

ok so what did you find

zaz

So I hate it when people don't update threads with solutions:

I had the transfer case examined, bearings, calipers, etc. The only thing we could see that it could be at that point was tires, as it got worse when the tires were moved to the front.

Turns out the 2 pirelli pzeros I bought from what appeared to be a reputed shop were actually crappy tires. I brought them to the shop that I trust, and they examined them, as well as my mechanic earlier, and concluded that the tires were not old, had lots of tread, not significant uneven wear, but they were stored outdoors or something because they were harder than they should be. They said they aren't that bad, so I can move them to the rear for now and when they wear out (8/32 right now) just replace them with brand new, as for daily driving it wont be significant. It took 3 mechanics, 2 tire guys, 1 brake/caliper guy, and 1 former racecar driver (girlfriend's uncle) to figure it out, because it sounded so much like a bearing somewhere.

So I swapped them to the rear, and went for a spirited drive. I get more oversteer because the crappier ones are in the back but at least the sound and vibration is significantly reduced, albeit still there. I know I had the sound before when I had my 245/40/19s goodyear LS2s but I think I've just had ****ty tires all along. The firestone firehawk indy 500s being in the front make a world of a difference, so I will maybe pull a track day with the rears and then swap them out with brand new indy 500s. At least it's a good solution for now.

On the bright side my headlight parts arrived so I can get back to creating more problems for myself.