2008 v6 camry, making a humming sound form the front tires…I have fairly new tires, new alignment…the car has 179,000 miles…the brakes look like they have some life left on the pads, could it be a wheel bearing??
Please define “fairly new tires”
Some times aren’t that great, and are noisey after just a short time
But it’s certainly possible that a wheel bearing is bad . . . does the noise change when you make turns?
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10 k miles on tires, Firestone’s…constant humming at higher speed, doesn’t change much during turning
Thanks for the additional information . . .
Unfortunately, I think there’s a very good chance that the noise is being caused by the tires . . . because they’re Firestone 
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Think I will try a different pair up front to see if it goes away…if not then I can put the tire issue to bed, move on from there…Thanks for your input
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Have these tires been rotated at 5 or 6 thousand miles . I ask because if you are thinking of two new tires for the front just do long enough to see if the noise is tire related . The guidelines are when only getting two new tires they should go on the rear .
Yes, I rotated at 7K miles when I changed the oil…then noticed the noise after 1K miles, tires are not cupping, seam to be wearing evenly.
I made my comment, because in my experience Firestone tires tend to get quite noisey, and quickly at that . . . even if you rotate them regularly and even if they are wearing evenly
If the tires are in fact the cause of the noise, my suggestion is to just live with it until the tires are worn out or dry rotted . . . whichever comes first . . . and then get a different brand
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I have had mechanics tell me if a wheel bearing was bad on a few occasions and confirm that it was NOT the wheel bearing a couple as well. They put it on the lift and rotate it and compare the rotation and sound to what is “normal.” I’d have it checked. Particularly since the car is 11 years old. Here is a related story by John Paul, the Car Doctor. Mr. Paul knows his stuff and is a pal of Ray’s.
any competent mechanic can use “chassis ears” . . . google it . . . to determine what is causing the noise
emphasis on competent 
Ray would appreciate it . . . because the brothers mentioned “chassis ears” many times
It’s a brand name, by the way
This is what my Toyota sounded like with a bad front wheel bearing.Listen closely when I veer to the right.
The common report here for bad front wheel bearings is a growling sound that gets louder the faster you go. Sort of sounds like when you drive over a roughened road surface, like when the road crew are prepping the road surface by purposely roughening it with that huge grinding machine of theirs, in advance of installing new surfacing material. My Corolla has more miles than that and the wheel bearings remain perfectly noiseless, but at 180 k miles anything is possible.
That said, when you refer to the noise as a humming sound that is more consistent with tire noise, as mentioned above. But what one person calls “humming” another may call “growling”.
Ok. Finally got my hands on my daughter’s car…rotated the tires and the noise followed to the rear w/ those “Firestones”…went to Firestone and they offered a discount/ prorate to replace…told them no thanks, gonna go with a different brand… Thanks
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Sorry you had to find out this way . . .
Thanks for letting us know the ultimate cause to that pesky noise OP, good to know.
This reminds me of a humorous incident. Years ago, 1990’s I think, there was a vehicle under recall for something, as I recall it was a Ford Bronco, and at the same time Firestone tires were having some other kind of problem. All this popped up in the news on a Monday, and commented on all week by the late night comedians. The next Friday’s newspaper – which is the day there’s a car section – as if the late night comedians were in need of fresh material, what do you know but there’s a huge photo featuring a Ford Bronco with Firestone tires … lol …