Okay, I went about a year after lowering my car to get an alignment. I didn't drive that much at all however but I'm sure there was some tire wear durring this time. My problem is that after I got an alignment once I go faster then 45 mph, The car makes a strange humming noise. It's not constant at all, it just goes for about 1 or 2 seconds, then nothing for 1 or 2 seconds, then for another 1 or 2 seconds. It sounds like the sound when you take a long fast turn with a tire that makes lots of noise. I read that some people had vibration at above 60 or 70 and it could be many things, one being wheel balance. My wheels were allready balanced so I don't know why they would have to balance them again, however I know nothing about alignments. I also would not describe this as a vibration at all, nothing in the car vibrates, not even the wheel, it just makes a humming noise. It is not engine related because if I go into neutral and coast it still makes the noise just stops once I get below 45. Could this noise be from the odd tire wear that happened when it was not aligned and it will go away after the tire wears properly, kind of like flat spots? I really hope its not the wheel balance because the place that aligned it is not close to home and has very odd work hours. Well, any help would be great. Thanks!

Did you check if your tires are rubbing? Was their abnormal wear before you had it aligned (inside wear from toe being off)? Once tires setup a wear pattern they like to continue wearing the same way, we see this all the time at work. Where does it sound like the noise is coming from (which tire(s))?

Joel Baldridge, ASE Certified Master Technician, Audi Certified Expert Technician

I think you had a bad wear pattern on your tires and now that is aligned correctly it is giving you the noise. More info would be better. That is my initial thought.

1995 Eagle Talon ESi
Powered by NX wet kit

I did check if they were rubbing and it didn't seem to be rubbing from any of the tires. I'm only lowered on pro-kits with 215 tires so rubbing shouldn't be a problem. When I look at the tires they look about the same to me, nothing to extreme with tire wear but i'm sure they did get worn when the toe was off. I am pretty bad when it comes to hearing where things come from but I would guess it's coming from the front. Could this be causing the sound? Thanks.

It's definately possible. If you still have your stock rims try popin those on the front, and go for a drive to see if the noise changes/goes away. That should tell you right there.

Joel Baldridge, ASE Certified Master Technician, Audi Certified Expert Technician

I actually just remembered that I had my stock rims/tires on for a while when I was lowered so those are probably worn too, but I suppose it's worth a try.

inner tie rod?

I eat emo kids for breakfast

1995 Eagle Talon (SOLD)
72' SuperBeetle
72' Standard Beetle
56' Deluxe Beetle

I noticed that when I take a right turn the noise goes away. If I take a left turn, the noise does not. I also took a close look at the treads. Both front tires are worn more on the inside then the outside. The left tire is worn more then the right tire. I also checked once again for rubbing and I have plenty of space. I listened the best I could and it actually seems like it's from the front right tire. I'm pretty sure now that its just the noise from odd tire wear. The alignment seems perfect and I don't see anything that could have went wrong just from an alignment. The wheel balance weights are still there, however they could have changed the position. I still find it strange how the noise isn't constant. Does it make sence that the noise wouldn't be constant. Thanks again for everyones help!

Maybe the alignment is just coincidental. I had a humming issue that sounds exacly like the one you describe. The humming would go away if I turned right even the slightest bit but continue no matter how far to the left I went. My problem ended up being a bad wheel bearing.
Strange thing though...the humming sounded just like it was coming from the passenger side but it turned out to be the drivers side hub that was bad. Go figure

Not sure if thats your problem but something to check out if the tire swap doesn't pan out.

Here is a link to the post http://forums.2gnt.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=27671&mode=full


Tim

98 Talon

98 Talon

Well, that seems like what my problem is, now the dreaded question. How much does a wheel bearing cost? Thank you everyone for your help.

EDIT: Sorry I should have searched, seems like they are about $150, is that for one side or for both? One more thing, is there anyway to check if they are bad before I just replace them? I can't really go to a dealer as they will just say it's bad and replace it anyways. Thanks for the help.

Wiggle the wheel while it's off the ground at 12 & 6 o'clock to check for wheel bearing play.

Joel Baldridge, ASE Certified Master Technician, Audi Certified Expert Technician

Maybe they said that because the car will need to be realigned when they fix the tie rod.

Hahn Stage I Turbo
DC Sport Front and Rear Strut Bars
Current Mods in the works:
Complete Engine rebuild with 8.8.1 Je pistons and Eagle Rods

New Toy: 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T

Yea, I picked it up today and turns out thats what they meant. I wish I was a little more awake at the time of the call so I could have asked more as the car was JUST aligned and they decided to do all wheels again. They could have just done the front but whatever, thats why they are called satan I guess.

The bad thing is that the humming noise didn't even go away after this. The wiggle in the wheel did however so at least it's safe to drive. I'm just going to assume that the humming is just from the awkardly worn tires and keep my eye on the other wheel that hasn't been fixed.