[peackpr9]

I have very loud road noise coming from the front tires on my 2007 Santa Fe. It seems to be mostly the front right. I have had the alignment checked and it passed without needing any alignment changes done. Also had the tires balanced. You can feel a slight vibration in the steering wheel so I think it is more than just road noise from the tires.

How can I check to see if it is a wheel bearing that is bad?

Thanks!

 

[PoMansAWD]

I've only experienced 2 instances of bad wheel bearings on a FWD vehicle, but for those there was a very noticeable noise on lower speed, fairly sharp turns. Generally, if you hear it when making a right turn, it's the left front bearing hub. On a left turn, the right hub. It's based on the high axial loading to the bearing on turns. Have you rotated the tires to see if the problem follows the tire? (bad tread problem, shifted cord, etc)

Joel

 

[sbr711]

Rotate the tires and see in moves elsewhere..

Find you a road somewhere with no traffic that you can swerve across both lanes.. get uo to steady speed and trun wheel to put fair amount on wheel when turning to see if noise increase or decrease, do this both left and right.. Left urn increase will be left left front, turning right will be right front... do it a bunch of times and listen carefully..

Sometimes, if bearing bad enough, you can grab tire (with car in air) and wobble the bearing..

 

[PoMansAWD]

QUOTE (sbr711 @ Sep 20 2010, 12:10 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=357425

Sometimes, if bearing bad enough, you can grab tire (with car in air) and wobble the bearing..

You find this less and less common today. Today's sealed bearing hub assemblies rarely exhibit a wobble you can feel by lifting the vehicle and trying to shake the wheel. I know I couldn't feel it that way at all on the 2 minivan failures I had. I suppose if you let it get REALLY bad you might get some wobble.

Joel

 

[peackpr9]

QUOTE (PoMansAWD @ Sep 20 2010, 12:19 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=357426

You find this less and less common today. Today's sealed bearing hub assemblies rarely exhibit a wobble you can feel by lifting the vehicle and trying to shake the wheel. I know I couldn't feel it that way at all on the 2 minivan failures I had. I suppose if you let it get REALLY bad you might get some wobble.

Joel

Thanks for the suggestions! I initially thought it could be the tires and had them rotated and balanced since both were included in the tire purchases. If my memory is correct, the noise didn't move because of the change in tire positions. It remains in the front of the SUV. I'll give the turning while driving a try. It is noticeably louder between 55-65 mph. When I definitely had a road noise problem because of the tires, the faster I drove the more quiet it became. This time it is the opposite.

Thanks!