I’ve got a 2005 Nissan Frontier that has a roar and vibration that keeps getting worse over time. It happens as long as the car is rolling, but is the loudest at around 35 and 65 mph. From the driver seat is does sound like it’s coming from the front passenger side. A few months ago I was driving across a curvy road and when I got home I could smell hot brakes. I checked, and the front passenger side caliper was stuck. I rebuilt the caliper, and that seemed to free up the wheel, but didn’t fix the roar. I drove a couple more weeks and found the caliper stuck again. So this time I replaced it. The wheel has been fine since, but the roar is still present. After a while I figured it was a bad wheel bearing and replaced that too. But, that didn’t work. I’ve also taken it to a shop and had them check the alignment, to which they said it was fine. I’m still racking my brain trying to figure this out.
Any ideas?
Wheel bearing? Did you replace both the inner and outer bearing or only the outer bearing?
Drive down the road while getting the roar than, where it is safe to do so, swing the steering wheel back and forth like you see the race cars do when under the yellow or just before the start of the race. You don’t need to do it as hard as they do but still go back and forth a few times. If the roar gets louder when turning, then it is a wheel bearing.
If it gets louder going to the left, its on the right, if it gets louder when swinging to the right, its the left side.
It could also be a tire, try rotating them and see if the roar moves with the tire.
I forgot to mention that. It does get louder on a left turn and goes away on a right turn. I replaced the hub assembly when I swapped it out. It was cheaper for me to replace the entire assembly myself rather than take it to a shop to get the bearing replaced. I wasn’t aware there was an inner and outer bearing. I’m guessing the hub assembly only included the outer bearing. Thanks for the reply!
Food for thought
Noise on left turn . . . the problem is on the right side
Noise on right turn . . . the problem is on the left side
Sorry, got that backwards. Noise is loud when going around a left curve and quiet on a right curve. I was pretty sure it was coming from the front, but since I replaced the hub assembly I guess it must be the back, right? Maybe the vibration is riding up the frame and making it sound like it’s on the front.
First try rotating tires as keith suggested.