Tire noise or wheel bearings?

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We bought our '07 Subaru in my sig from my in-laws a year and a half ago. There's a noise coming from the rear that they say started when they replaced the OE tires. I had always been OK with that explanation (but surprised that the tires could be that loud), but last time I took it to the shop, they suggested that it may be wheel bearings. How can I tell? Here are some data points:
-Increases linearly with speed; becomes noticeable around 35-40 mph
-Doesn't seem to change when turning
-Sounds pretty much identical with winter tires (General Altimax Arctic) as with all-seasons (Dunlop Signature)
-Has been going on for probably 30,000 miles

Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10

-Has been going on for probably 30,000 miles

Thanks!


Let it go another 30-50,000 and see if it goes away....
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At 90K anything is possible. Lift the calipers off the rear wheels, use a nut to keep the rotor secured.
Make sure there is no parking brake drag if it uses separate shoes, you may have to back the adjuster off then spin the wheel slowly by hand.

If there is a bad/dry bearing you will feel some roughness in it. If its smooth and quiet with slight resistance from the grease its probably fine.

If it spins too freely with no resistance, feels like a rough spot or has noise then its probably the cause of the noise.
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10

-Has been going on for probably 30,000 miles



Did the noise change when you rotated the tires? You HAVE rotated the tires in 30,000 miles, haven't you?
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: NateDN10

-Has been going on for probably 30,000 miles



Did the noise change when you rotated the tires? You HAVE rotated the tires in 30,000 miles, haven't you?

No, and yes, respectively.
 
If the noise stays with different tires on / rotating the tires around (noise still coming from the rear) then it's a safe bet that it's a bad wheel bearing at this point.
 
I recently had a front wheel bearing replaced on my 2000 Tundra with 204K miles. I just decided that the road noise was getting too loud to be tire road noise. So I took it to Firestone for a rotate and balance and asked them to check the bearings. They confirmed my suspicion. It made noise when spun on a lift, and had lateral movement as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Artem
If the noise stays with different tires on / rotating the tires around (noise still coming from the rear) then it's a safe bet that it's a bad wheel bearing at this point.

Yeah, that was my feeling as well.
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10

-Doesn't seem to change when turning
-Sounds pretty much identical with winter tires (General Altimax Arctic) as with all-seasons (Dunlop Signature)
-Has been going on for probably 30,000 miles

Thanks!


Doesn't change when turning: points AWAY from wheel bearings. The load on the bearing changes significantly during a turn, you'd expect a sound change. With front wheel bearings, the change can be HUGE when you turn.

Sounds identical with different tires: well, now that would seem to imply something mechanical... but its possible the tires make similar sounds.

Has been going on for 30k miles: A failing bearing isn't likely to last THAT long!

Strange indeed- don't know what to tell you other than to follow some of the diagnostics that have already been posted here. Its an AWD, I assume, so it could also be ring-and-pinion noise from the rear differential. R&P sets can become noisy and STAY noisy for tens, even hundreds of thousands of miles.
 
Wheel bearing can go anytime. I had a 2010 accent that had BOTH fronts replaced at 7000miles. No one could/would believe it.
 
Originally Posted By: skellyman
My thought would be a warped rotor , somtimes the tire service people over torque lugnuts.

How would warped rotors cause a noise that could be confused with loud tires, and that isn't affected by braking, and doesn't cause the normal symptom of pedal pulsation?
 
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Wheel bearing make noise before they can be felt to be loose.
If yours are the simple 'bolt on a new hub' type, consider a Rambo shoot 'em all approach, and replace them both.
BTW, at 30k, what do you expect from your tires now? They are past their prime.
 
If they are bad, you will be able to feel it without even pulling the brakes off. put car on lift, and spin each tire. you will be able to hear and feel the difference between a bad and good bearing. You feel rumble/roughness and hear the rumble as well with a bad bearing. OTher than that, use a stethescope while running car on lift.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Wheel bearing make noise before they can be felt to be loose.
If yours are the simple 'bolt on a new hub' type, consider a Rambo shoot 'em all approach, and replace them both.
BTW, at 30k, what do you expect from your tires now? They are past their prime.

The all-seasons are past their prime, but the winter tires have less than 10K on them.

Upon further investigation, it does appear that these are the "bolt on a new hub" type. When I get a chance I'll try the various suggestions to try to determine whether they're bad, and then it shouldn't be too hard to replace if necessary.
 
Wheel bearings can be pretty bad without feeling looseness manually, or roughness.
It is NOT a sure test.
Only if it is REALLY bad is this helpful.
 
^^^OMG! If you can FEEL the bad bearing from the drivers seat in steering response you are likely in danger of catastrophic failure!
 
My experience is that tires can become noisy as they age even if tread wear is uniform, so I wouldn't exclude the tire possibility just yet, especially as winter tires tend to be noisier than all-seasons.

If bearings are expensive, you could try a new set of tires. Most tire manufacturers provide a 30 day "test drive". If you keep the old tires and the new ones don't solve the problem, you can return them for a full refund and put the old ones back on. Cheaper than experimenting with wheel bearings.
 
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