Loud rear tire noise humming?
 

I have a 06 TL. I recently put 19inch wheels on it, and 3 months later I am noticing a weird hum from the rear tire area, it almost sounds like I am running on a REAR flat tire, but my tire pressure is fine.

It vibrates the floors lightly in the car as well. This happends 60 percent of the time I am driving the car, but not all the time, what could this be? I have searched everywhere!

If they are the same size, switch the rears to the front and give it a try. Naturally, if the noise is now at the front, tire/wheel problem, balance, bent/cracked wheel, bad tire. When switching the tires, check for irregular tread wear, uneven tread side to side, or feathered edge. If still at the rear, mechanical problem with the car.

but the problem is 100 percent of the time? does it sound like a possible wheel bearing?

Could be the tires! Many years ago, I had tires (Falken) that sounded like a rear wheel bearing was going, but it was just the tires. The sound would even change with the dips in the road, but it was just the tires. I found out the hard way as I changed the wheel bearing and had the same noise. Installed another set of tires and it was gone completely. I wasn't too happy.

When was the last time you had your alignment checked? Does it come from one side in particular? It could be one of your rear tires starting to cup due to misalignment. I had that happen (left rear). I too thought maybe a bearing was going bad, but my rear toe was out and it caused the left rear tire to cup. Take a real good look at your rear tire wear on both side. If you have uneven wear on one or both tires, you have an alignment issue.

I doubt it could be the tires as they never made this noise when i put on the new tires and rims. It started out rarley happening then getting worse.

If i go over 50 kilometers (canadian) the noise will start and get louder, as i go slower it gets quieter. Ugh its driving me nuts.

Ever hear of tires making noise after they wear, guess not, so forget about the tires.

I seriously doubt it's a wheel bearing. They very rarely go bad on TLs. On the other hand, TLs are somewhat notorious for causing uneven wear on the rear tires when only slightly out of alignment.

You didn't answer my questions: When did you last have the alignment checked (in miles) and are both tires wearing evenly?

I have never had alignment on the car since i bought with 94,000kms i now have 110,000kms on it. Usually i thought u didnt have to have an alignment unless you did suspension work. Also that doesnt explain why when i put the wheels on they didnt make this noise and now they do and it seems to be getting worse.

I will check the tire wear tomorow and let you know.

Also I realized tonight from the passenger rear tire their is excessive heat and a weird smell. Their is also a wear rubbing noise from the rotor/pad area when braking and going 0-5 km...I trying hard to figure this out as it is driving me nutz!

i know this is a tough one guys, but ineed your help!

Have you confirmed no uneven wear on your tires?

It's possible one of your p-brake shoes is rubbing. Could have a broken a release spring.

check the inside of the tread, check for waving patterns. You can even rub your hand along it. Its either and bearing or Cupping on the tires. Both of those get louder as you drive. Lack of Rotation and Alignment are the reasons for this! take a picture of the inside of your tread for me

landonZ pm me, and send me your email address I will send pics, anyone else who wants pics pm me as well..the tires seems to wear evenly so I cant tell, maybe u can by pics...

I had the same problem.....ended up being a shifted belt that caused a large bubble on my tire.

where was this bubble? a shifted belt? what did you have to do to fix it?

below is a pic of both tires side by side, and then both tires from a further distance...they look fine to me? let me know what you think

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0040_large.jpg
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0041_large.jpg

Tires look good. Next time it's humming, pull the parking brake slightly and see if it makes a difference either way.

I will do that and report back to you guys...any other ideas of what it could be? I think we have narrowed it down to wheel bearing and p-brake shoes is rubbing or a broken a release spring

Sticky rear caliper/e-brake cable. Sounds like the pads are dragging & heating up and burning....get it looked at ASAP.

From that angle, the tires look good. However, you need to check the full circumference of the tires for uneven wear, not just what is viewable from that angle to be sure. When my alignment started to cup my left rear tire, I had the noise but didn't detect any issue with tire wear. Two weeks and 500 miles later, my tire was severely cupped. If this noise just started, it could still be an alignment issue causing tire noise due to unusual geometry/force placed on the tire/tires from an out of spec alignment. It just hasn't had time to show up as wear yet.

You may still very well have a p-brake issue instead of a tire/alignment issue. Do what IHC suggests and see what happens. You can also jack up the rear end and spin the right rear tire and see what you hear. If both of those procedures point toward a p-brake issue and you're somewhat mechanically inclined, you can pull the rear rotor to check the p-brake mechanism. There are a couple of good DIYs in the 3G Garage with pics and service manual scans. If it's as simple as a broken release spring, you'll be out about $2, assuming the shoes are not severely worn.

x2

i cant PM yet, take another pic along the top of the tire showing the inner part from the side, do you understand what that means? HAHA. Not sure how to explain it. Tires looks good from that angle

So i jacked up the car and spun the wheel, it spun freely then i pushed the brakes and spun he wheel again and the wheel was very hard to try and spin. I took apart the caliper lube lubed it up put the wheels on and same thing. I ended up buying a new caliper as the other one was seized and it seemed to fix the problem.

With the tire jacked into the air. spin it and watch the inner part of the tire, see if it seems to be moving up and down. Cupping is explained as each tread is a different height. One is higher then the next on and so on. That can make hella noise while driving. This can also happen on the outside of the tire if the alignment is not perfect and the tires are not rotated.

Thanks for the help but I think I got it...read post 24