OK so the car has been slightly drifting left for a while, at least a year, even after alignments. Last fall i had to replace the drivers side front axle just FYI. and then lately i have noticed what sounds like uneven wear, well i had my tires rotated and rebalanced last night the guy said the tires are “wearing beautifully” yet driving home i hear the distinct " hum hum hum hum" that speeds up and slows down respectfully, also i can “feel” it when driving on smooth roads. so now im thinking i need to take it back and have the axle checked out. anyone have any thoughts?
I would let a different alignment shop check the alignment. If the vehicle is drifting left there is a problem even if the first alignment shop can’t find it. It could be a bad alignment or worn/broken parts. The new front axle is suspect but don’t tell the new alignment shop about the repair. You may have to replace the passenger side axle as well to even things out. All parts are not made the same.
I wonder if you have a tire with a defective belt. You might try rotating the tires from side to side and see if the car still pulls to the left.
Even very minor wear inconsistency issues can produce plenty of noise. This would be especially likely if you went a long time without rotating at all.
But the very first thing to do before you drive it anywhere is check the lug nuts. If they happened to be loose, yours wouldn’t be the first experience with such a thing.
my tires are directional and when i went to get them rotated i requested side to side. but the place wouldn’t do it because they would have to remount them…
but that is what the place that i had the axle replaced recommended.
thanks for the input.
Artisan, while I tip my hat to your diligence, IMHO it’s not advisable to dismount the tires and swap side to rotate them. It’s better to just go froont to back. The process of dismounting and remounting tires repeatedly can result in slow leaks at the beads. Besides, you probably spend more money doing this than you save in tire wear.