strange road noise

hey guys, just bought my first riv and have been workin towards makin it a reliable daily driver. so far ive done the usual plugs, wires, and oil change. also a new supercharger coupler. anyway i replaced the drivers side hub a few days ago and the old one was clearly shot. the new hub took care of most of the bearing noise as far as grinding and growling at me but i still had a little road noise after replacing the hub. just to be sure i pulled the new hub off and sent it back as a defective bearing. i got my second new hub on and the noise is still there. both hubs were correctly installed so i am sure thats not were the noise is still coming from.

The noise sounds somewhat like a drone of a bearing but it not always there. it usually will get louder when i turn to the right but its not always there and i really dont see it being the bearing again. also the car has 254K on it. I was wondering if anyone on here has had a similar problem? any input would be much appreciated

could be a power steering pump going bad.check that.listen with a stethoscope. double check the brake dust shield,driver side,long shot but what the hey......

robotennis61 wrote:

could be a power steering pump going bad.check that.listen with a stethoscope. double check the brake dust shield,driver side,long shot but what the hey......

thanks for the idea. im pretty sure my ps pump has seen better days but the noise is clearly coming from my "tire". the noise is more of a whaa whaa whaa sound. it hard to describe in words lol. also im sure it isnt the dust shield because i already had that problem once

you said you replaced one bearing, what corner was it on? just so you know there are still 3 more that could possibly be bad, i would start with the other wheel bearings and if thats not what it is we'll go from there.

riv96 wrote:

hey guys, just bought my first riv and have been workin towards makin it a reliable daily driver. so far ive done the usual plugs, wires, and oil change. also a new supercharger coupler. anyway i replaced the drivers side hub a few days ago and the old one was clearly shot. the new hub took care of most of the bearing noise as far as grinding and growling at me but i still had a little road noise after replacing the hub. just to be sure i pulled the new hub off and sent it back as a defective bearing. i got my second new hub on and the noise is still there. both hubs were correctly installed so i am sure thats not were the noise is still coming from.

The noise sounds somewhat like a drone of a bearing but it not always there. it usually will get louder when i turn to the right but its not always there and i really dont see it being the bearing again. also the car has 254K on it. I was wondering if anyone on here has had a similar problem? any input would be much appreciated

Whose bearings are they?

The first point is that the bearings specified for our cars fit a number of GM cars, BUT of those our Rivs is on the heavier side... for instance the rears fit some Chevy Malibus and the fronts fit some grand prix/buick regal/etc. So if you are not using a hi-spec bearing (a Timken, SKF, maybe a National) you may have issues. I bought a pair of 'generic' bearings off eBay once, installed them, and they lasted about a week (toasted them to a crackly crunch cruising on the QEW between St Catharines and the far west outskirts of Toronto, before I hit the Zone of Perpetual Construction). Vendor said, "I guess they were made on a Monday." Yeah, right. Refund, please.

The second point is that the bearings are engineered for a certain lifetime - especially if you are doing them yourself, consider replacing them in pairs.

IF you are going to cheap out on bearing/hub assemblies your best bet actually is to get them from a junkyard. The recyclers can spot recently-replaced wheel bearings from a mile away and those newer ones are the ones they will try to sell you instead of crush.

That said, also when you were doing the bearings you might/should have checked the inner/outer CV joints, they may be worn.

Albertj

Thanks for the replies. The bearings I used we have been putting on many various makes and models for years with no problems. I work in a shop so I get parts at cost. My riv is actualy the first "bad" bearing we have had to send back. And I don't actualy believe the first one was defective I just sent it back because I had to be sure and because I could. I am leaning toward a cv at this point. Have any of you had a cv make such a noise? I have seen them make similar noises but that was on one of my pickups under a severe angle

Also to 97 park ave I am fully aware that my riv has a bearing in all four corners

riv96 wrote:

Also to 97 park ave I am fully aware that my riv has a bearing in all four corners

thats great that you know there are 3 more, you still didnt say which one you replaced though...

Warped brake rotor will also make that noise but its typically a failed wheel bearing. Also have a good look at your CV on that side, normally they click when they start to go, but it never hurts to have a peek at all the potential problems and do a little PM (preventative maintenance).

Thanks for the replies guys. homwtown here- thanks for bringing up the warped rotor. it is verry possible that could be the cause. i will be checking the rotor and cv tomorow.

-97park avenue- your right i didnt have the greatest desciption on with bearing i replace, it was the front drivers side

[Quote] Also to 97 park ave I am fully aware that my riv has a bearing in all four corners.[Quote]

At 19 years old, he has seen and done everything humanly possible. Much more than someone who has been doing it for a living for 50 years, so be careful about disagreeing with him, he'll let you know when your wrong before you have even said anything.

Just a heads up, to IGNORE him. He drives a Park Ave, what could he possibly know that the rest of us don't already know. He'll give you advice when you don't ask for it, just because he knows everything, except where to find a site that is for Park Ave's.

^ dats cold

If a rotor is warped enough to cause noise while driving, not braking, the steering wheel would shake uncontrollably......especially a front rotor.

Haha believe me I did ignore the above comment. I am only 18 years old and have done my fair share of work but as robottennis61 said, nothing can match years of experience.
Abaddon- you are absolutly correct about the warped rotor thing. I believe I can rule that one out. I will check my cv joints and if that's not it I will order a higher quality bearing and give that a try

riv96 wrote:

Haha believe me I did ignore the above comment. I am only 18 years old and have done my fair share of work but as robottennis61 said, nothing can match years of experience.
Abaddon- you are absolutly correct about the warped rotor thing. I believe I can rule that one out. I will check my cv joints and if that's not it I will order a higher quality bearing and give that a try

Consider using a dial gauge to check the wheel for out of round, and consider that maybe you might have a different bearing also bad. Bearing life is an unknown BUT any with over 100K miles on should be, well, checked.

Albertj

Well I believe I found the problem today! I put my riv on the hoist today checked the cv's and all four bearings. All of wich were good. The I hopped in the car and got it up to 55mph while another technician used a stethascope to pinpoint were the noise was coming from. It was the damn tires! Just another reason to hate firestones.

I used to joke with a fellow from Goodyear R&D that the miracle of the Assurance tire was that Goodyear finally figured out, with the help of rocket scientists from JPL and new finite element models, how to make a tire closer to perfectly round.

Firestone/Bridgestone did not get the memo yet.

Albertj

Glad you found the issue! Try not to discriminate against Firestone/Bridgestone, though. They make great tires, but after too much wear & tire, or simply old age, they can expire - like any tire brand. I've used only FIrestone & Bridgestone tires on my car for nearly 7 years. Not only do they perform, but they wear a long time, and can take some serious abuse. It all depends on the price and performance level of the tire you use. Good tires are good tires. The low-priced bargains can get you into trouble!

AA wrote:

Glad you found the issue! Try not to discriminate against Firestone/Bridgestone, though. They make great tires, but after too much wear & tire, or simply old age, they can expire - like any tire brand. I've used only FIrestone & Bridgestone tires on my car for nearly 7 years. Not only do they perform, but they wear a long time, and can take some serious abuse. It all depends on the price and performance level of the tire you use. Good tires are good tires. The low-priced bargains can get you into trouble!

Your right I am a little biased against firestone but that's only because of the rivalry between the firestone dealer and our shop here in town haha. And I agree that some tires nomatter the make will make roadnoise if old or to worn but the strange thing is my front tires are almost brand new. I confirmed the noise also by puting them in the rear and rotating my cheetah slicks to the front

If you don't mind me asking, which model Firestones did you use?

[quote="Rickw"][Quote] Also to 97 park ave I am fully aware that my riv has a bearing in all four corners.

Quote :

At 19 years old, he has seen and done everything humanly possible. Much more than someone who has been doing it for a living for 50 years, so be careful about disagreeing with him, he'll let you know when your wrong before you have even said anything.

Just a heads up, to IGNORE him. He drives a Park Ave, what could he possibly know that the rest of us don't already know. He'll give you advice when you don't ask for it, just because he knows everything, except where to find a site that is for Park Ave's.

seriously rick grow up. whats wrong with my park avenue? ive never seen pics or videos of your piece of shit. at 19 i seem to be doing more work to my car BY MYSELF than you, i dont "take my car to the shop for free lift time" or watch someone else do the work while i stand there. you keep expressing the fact that im 19, what about it? youre 52, id rather be 19 than 52. and even at that who seems to be starting all the shit and acting immature? the 52 year old with a stick up his ass. guess what rick, anything you say doesnt bother me even in the least bit. mind your own damn business unless something i say is directed towards you.

AA wrote:

If you don't mind me asking, which model Firestones did you use?

no problem at all. they are fr380's. they came on the vehicles so i dont know how old they are.

Those are pretty much the bottom line Firestone offers. I would expect any tire in the $50 range to be something you put on "for sale" car to get rid of it. Maybe that's what the previous owner did. I found a site with buyer reviews. They're average for the most part, but a few are complaining of noise and vibration problems, even saying they're the worst tire ever. Link:

http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Reviews/Firestone/FR380

Replace the them with something H-rated or better in the $100-150 (per tire) range; I think you'll be much more satisfied. Tires can make such a difference in ride and handling!

AA wrote:

Those are pretty much the bottom line Firestone offers. I would expect any tire in the $50 range to be something you put on "for sale" car to get rid of it. Maybe that's what the previous owner did. I found a site with buyer reviews. They're average for the most part, but a few are complaining of noise and vibration problems, even saying they're the worst tire ever. Link:

http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Reviews/Firestone/FR380

Replace the them with something H-rated or better in the $100-150 (per tire) range; I think you'll be much more satisfied. Tires can make such a difference in ride and handling!

thanks a lot for the help AA!! and i would agree with them being subpar tires. i will definatly be buying better tires soon. I am still happy with the car for $900

edit much?

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but if you don't rotate your tires regularly, the rears become chopped on the edges because of the toe-in of the rear wheels. The second you rotate them to the front, they hum. Also, the toe-in on the front may be excessive, causing the chopping.