Airplane Sound in my Riv?

Ever since replacing my old struts with ones from the junkyard, I've been getting this airplane type noise. I know it sounds odd, but that's what I thought I was hearing when the symptoms occured. On acceleration, nothing happens until 40 MPH and I get this constant vibration. It gets louder and more noticeable the faster I go. On deceleration, it seems to quiet starting at 25 MPH. The vibration is there when I turn left or right, but only above 40 MPH.

Now, I just had a set of tires mounted and balanced at Belle Tire so I've ruled that out as a possible cause for the noise. I just don't understand how struts would cause a noise like I'm hearing. I don't think It's a wheel hearing because I'm getting the noise only above 40 MPH and it doesn't matter if I turn left or right. Any ideas? Nothing is rubbing anything either. I'm stumped.

EDIT: Both tierod ends have been replaced and so has the driver side control arm.

KnottyEagle wrote:

Ever since replacing my old struts with ones from the junkyard, I've been getting this airplane type noise. I know it sounds odd, but that's what I thought I was hearing when the symptoms occured. On acceleration, nothing happens until 40 MPH and I get this constant vibration. It gets louder and more noticeable the faster I go. On deceleration, it seems to quiet starting at 25 MPH. The vibration is there when I turn left or right, but only above 40 MPH.

Now, I just had a set of tires mounted and balanced at Belle Tire so I've ruled that out as a possible cause for the noise. I just don't understand how struts would cause a noise like I'm hearing. I don't think It's a wheel hearing because I'm getting the noise only above 40 MPH and it doesn't matter if I turn left or right. Any ideas? Nothing is rubbing anything either. I'm stumped.

EDIT: Both tierod ends have been replaced and so has the driver side control arm.

I would check motor mounts. And I would check wheel bearings anyway.

albertj wrote:

KnottyEagle wrote:

Ever since replacing my old struts with ones from the junkyard, I've been getting this airplane type noise. I know it sounds odd, but that's what I thought I was hearing when the symptoms occured. On acceleration, nothing happens until 40 MPH and I get this constant vibration. It gets louder and more noticeable the faster I go. On deceleration, it seems to quiet starting at 25 MPH. The vibration is there when I turn left or right, but only above 40 MPH.

Now, I just had a set of tires mounted and balanced at Belle Tire so I've ruled that out as a possible cause for the noise. I just don't understand how struts would cause a noise like I'm hearing. I don't think It's a wheel hearing because I'm getting the noise only above 40 MPH and it doesn't matter if I turn left or right. Any ideas? Nothing is rubbing anything either. I'm stumped.

EDIT: Both tierod ends have been replaced and so has the driver side control arm.

I would check motor mounts.  And I would check wheel bearings anyway.  

I replaced the rear transmission mount and I know the driver side and passenger side motor mounts aren't really a problem. I looked at the front transmission mount and it looked to be intact and everything. I'm going to rule out any mounts for now but I still might replace the front transmission mount anyways.

KnottyEagle wrote:

Ever since replacing my old struts with ones from the junkyard,

First, check the strut shaft nut (top, center) is tight on both struts. If you tightened them with the car raised, they will be loose after letting the car down.

Next, I'd do the job right and put in some better, new aftermarket struts, like KYBs. I know they're more $$$, but the OEM struts were not great even when new.

The airplane sound really seems like tires more than struts. Did you hear it before mounting the new tires?

AA wrote:

KnottyEagle wrote:

Ever since replacing my old struts with ones from the junkyard,

First, check the strut shaft nut (top, center) is tight on both struts. If you tightened them with the car raised, they will be loose after letting the car down.

Next, I'd do the job right and put in some better, new aftermarket struts, like KYBs. I know they're more $$$, but the OEM struts were not great even when new.

The airplane sound really seems like tires more than struts. Did you hear it before mounting the new tires?

I'll be sure to check that when I get home.

I wish I could, but the car isn't worth it to me anymore to drop that kind of money on it.

I heard the noise before and after the tires. It's not the "air in between the tread of the tires" type noise, but an actual vibration.

I may have missed it, but did you ever get an alignment after all of that? The noise and vibration could just be your tires begging for mercy...

matt270avian wrote:

I may have missed it, but did you ever get an alignment after all of that? The noise and vibration could just be your tires begging for mercy...

Alignment should be tomorrow if they don't find any problems.

^^^ ahh, the alignment. Bet that fixes it. Need to have it done anyway after strut replacement, so best of luck.

Dropped the Riv off at Belle Tire this morning to have them check it out before the alignment and both wheel bearings are bad with the driver one being the worse of the two. They also said the passenger lower ball joint is "pretty darn bad." *sigh* Time to drop some more money into this thing.

KnottyEagle wrote:

Dropped the Riv off at Belle Tire this morning to have them check it out before the alignment and both wheel bearings are bad with the driver one being the worse of the two. They also said the passenger lower ball joint is "pretty darn bad." *sigh* Time to drop some more money into this thing.

I wouldn't trust Belle Tire with ANYTHING. They will sell you everything that you'll buy, even if your car doesn't need it. NEVER take your car to Belle Tire for service.....
We have customers on a daily basis come here with "Belle Tire says I need all of this". They NEVER need what BT is trying to sell them. It's usually only one of the many "problems" they said is wrong. The rest is all bullshit repairs that they just sell and make money on.

Yeah, you probably need A hub.

Just sayin.

KnottyEagle wrote:

Dropped the Riv off at Belle Tire this morning to have them check it out before the alignment and both wheel bearings are bad with the driver one being the worse of the two. They also said the passenger lower ball joint is "pretty darn bad." *sigh* Time to drop some more money into this thing.

I've mentioned this before in other threads: use an alignment request as a free diagnosis! Although this shop doesn't have the best rep it seems, at least they told you what might be wrong (hopefully at no cost). This is a $50 diagnosis fee at most shops. Don't dismiss this as automatically incorrect!

Hope you didn't just let them do the work. If they told you a ball joint and hubs are bad, there's a decent chance they are. It's relatively easy to check with the car lifted. Check it yourself and verify their claims, then do the work yourself. The ball joint is part of the control arm assembly - order new arms at ~$75/side and get all fresh bushings and balls. The hubs are going to cost you a bit more ($130/side). But these parts should last another 120-150k miles, at least.

Don't attempt save money using junk yard parts if you can afford new ones. For one, new parts aren't that expensive for this car. Next, all of the parts are from the same area, so you want to get it all done right in one sitting, saving you the time of pulling the suspension apart multiple times. Just think if you'd done the arms, struts, and hubs on the same day. I know, you didn't know they were bad, but now you have more to info.

Here's what I'd do: go on RockAuto and buy a pair of Timken hubs ($260), and L/R Dorman control arm assemblies ($150). Do both sides on a Saturday morning (the arms really aren't so bad). Now you have a completely fresh front suspension, ready for alignment.

If you let them do the work, assume they will use lower quality parts to make a profit. If you request good parts, expect the prices to go up accordingly. Best of luck!

At the very least, go there and ask them to show you while the parts are still on the car.....they are thieves and have no problems ass raping people.

Do yourself a favor and Google "Belle Tire rips people off"

Abaddon wrote:

KnottyEagle wrote:

Dropped the Riv off at Belle Tire this morning to have them check it out before the alignment and both wheel bearings are bad with the driver one being the worse of the two. They also said the passenger lower ball joint is "pretty darn bad." *sigh* Time to drop some more money into this thing.

I wouldn't trust Belle Tire with ANYTHING. They will sell you everything that you'll buy, even if your car doesn't need it. NEVER take your car to Belle Tire for service.....
We have customers on a daily basis come here with "Belle Tire says I need all of this". They NEVER need what BT is trying to sell them. It's usually only one of the many "problems" they said is wrong. The rest is all bullshit repairs that they just sell and make money on.

Yeah, you probably need A hub.

Just sayin.

I understand what you're saying and I know those types of shops exist, but my dad has had very good luck at this particular shop. His best friend is the manager, so I have absolutely no worries about bringing my car there. If I had any doubts I would've found a different reputable shop.

AA wrote:

KnottyEagle wrote:

Dropped the Riv off at Belle Tire this morning to have them check it out before the alignment and both wheel bearings are bad with the driver one being the worse of the two. They also said the passenger lower ball joint is "pretty darn bad." *sigh* Time to drop some more money into this thing.

I've mentioned this before in other threads: use an alignment request as a free diagnosis! Although this shop doesn't have the best rep it seems, at least they told you what might be wrong (hopefully at no cost). This is a $50 diagnosis fee at most shops. Don't dismiss this as automatically incorrect!

Hope you didn't just let them do the work. If they told you a ball joint and hubs are bad, there's a decent chance they are. It's relatively easy to check with the car lifted. Check it yourself and verify their claims, then do the work yourself. The ball joint is part of the control arm assembly - order new arms at ~$75/side and get all fresh bushings and balls. The hubs are going to cost you a bit more ($130/side). But these parts should last another 120-150k miles, at least.

Don't attempt save money using junk yard parts if you can afford new ones. For one, new parts aren't that expensive for this car. Next, all of the parts are from the same area, so you want to get it all done right in one sitting, saving you the time of pulling the suspension apart multiple times. Just think if you'd done the arms, struts, and hubs on the same day. I know, you didn't know they were bad, but now you have more to info.

Here's what I'd do: go on RockAuto and buy a pair of Timken hubs ($260), and L/R Dorman control arm assemblies ($150). Do both sides on a Saturday morning (the arms really aren't so bad). Now you have a completely fresh front suspension, ready for alignment.

If you let them do the work, assume they will use lower quality parts to make a profit. If you request good parts, expect the prices to go up accordingly. Best of luck!

I got them to do the alignment diagnosis for free.

The thing about me doing work on my own is I don't have a lot of time and I don't have a back-up vehicle if I have to make a run to the store for something. I use my uncle's space and his tools. I try not to use his stuff all the time out of respect for his property. He also has his own "fleet" of vehicles that he has to keep maintained.

I know It's odd to hear a 17 year-old say he doesn't have a lot of time, but with my job and my Army schedule, It's very difficult for me to find time to do anything. Trust me, if I had the time I would've set up a day with my uncle to do everything, but that's nearly impossible.

They used Moog hubs with a 3 year warranty. Not sure on the lower ball joint/control arm.