I drive a 2010 Nissan Altima and my front tires have been making a kind of roaring sound. More of a “woo-woo-woo-woo” sound. It doesn’t get louder the faster I go, but it does make the sound faster when I pick up speed. I used a jack to lift all 4 tires off the ground and shake the wheels, but there was no slack or sound so that would rule out the wheel bearings right? The car doesn’t shake or vibrate either and when I let go of the steering wheel, the car stays straight. That would also rule out wheel balance and alignment right? Any other things that could be wrong or am I missing something?
The last time I had a Woo-Woo sound it was the rear differential bearings. Since you probably don’t have one, it could be a wheel bearing going out.
You really need a good mechanic take the car out for a spin and locate the problem.
The longer you postpone this the higher then cost.
My fix was $400 for new bearings.
Sometimes tires make noise when they get old and worn or just old. Sometimes a LOT of noise. Did you recently rotate these from the back? Did you recently buy 2 new tires? Are any of the tires original to the car, i.e. 5 years old? How many miles on them? Help us out a little by telling a little more.
Wouldn’t there be some slack if I shake the tire if it was a wheel bearing?
I rotated the tires in the spring time and last fall. The car has about 83000 miles on it and is the same tires since I bought the car. The tread looks good and similar on all 4 tires.
Tires make more noise as they wear…Some tires can get REALLY noisy…The “WooWooWoo” sound usually comes from slightly uneven wear or a damaged tire…This can be hard to spot with just a casual inspection…The wheels must be lifted off the ground and the tires spun slowly while you observe the tread, especially the edges of the tread as the tires rotate…Look for an area where the tread is worn more than the rest of the tire…Ply separation? Broken belt? Who knows? Just replace the tires and drive on…
"Ply separation? Broken belt? Who knows? Just replace the tires and drive on… "
Exactly!
The OP states that these tires have over 80k miles on them, and I have to wonder when he thinks it would be appropriate to purchase new tires if they weren’t making noise. I have a hard time believing that, after 80k miles, those tires still have a decent amount of tread remaining on them.
After 80k miles and with some apparent noise problems, it is time to replace the tires.
VDC, no, he said the car had 80k on it, and the tires had not been changed since he bought the car at some unknown number of miles.
^
His statement could be interpreted as you did, or it could be interpreted as I did.
Unclear communication is widespread nowadays, it seems, so it might be helpful for the OP to clarify exactly how many miles are on these tires.
you are correct, at least half of the posts are very ambiguous.
Sorry, I’ve probably put on about 10k miles on it myself. I’m not sure how long the previous owner had the tires on for or how many miles he drove on them.
Can you post a photo of the tires? A look-see at the treads might be revealing.
Can you read the build date code off the tires?
Here is how
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11&s_kwcid=AL!3756!3!72454653373!e!!g!!tires%20date%20code&ef_id=U-dYjAAABbKgmxm4:20150723235258:s
If the last 2 digits are “10” or “09” pat yourself on the back that you got 83K out of a set of original tires and buy new ones. If 2 tires, likely the fronts, are “10” or “09” and the rears newer, buy new front tires and your noise will go away.
Sandman, you have my sincerest apology. I accidentally tagged your post as “off topic” and I don’t know how to undo it. Old people like myself commonly develop a touch of a mild form of Parkinson’s that, while not serious, can cause an erratic spasm… and in this case tag something unintentionally. There is karma, however. I often spill coffee, sugar, juice, and many other things when trying to do anything with precision.
Select the flag again, and it goes away.
I discovered this when flagging spam and tried for a second flag, which turned off the first one.
Thanks for the tip, Bill. I hate flagging anyone accidentally. I never even use the flags intentionally. If I have something to say, I just say it.
As posted above, the woo woo woo sound is often some problem with a tire, but it can be a bad wheel bearing too. First thing to do is make sure four tires are properly and equally inflated. Still got the sound? You can do some experiments switching tires around, to see if the noise follows one of the tires. While you do this, look at the tread wear on each tire. Is one tire different from the other three? Another experiment is to see if the noise is worse turning one direction compared to the other. If it is worse turning right, the problem is usually something on the left side.
The most common symptom of a bad wheel bearing is a growling noise that gets worse the faster you go, sort of sounds like you are driving on a road with a roughened surface. They can still be bad but have no apparent play in them as you rock the tire or push/pull the tire axially. Usually they will make some noise, scratchy noises or like rubbing sand, when you rotate the tires by hand with the car on the lift though. If the wheel bearing is bad, one thing is pretty much certain, the symptom will get worse. Eventually it will be clear which wheel bearing it is.
I just wanted to relate an incident that happened to me a few days ago.
They are repaving part of the freeway, and the road surface has been scoured off, leaving behind a rough texture. That texture generates noise in my tires.
What is weird is that the noise changes pitch as I go along. No, it is not my speed as I hear quick changes in pitch - very abrupt changes as I maintain speed.
I’ve noticed that too. I wonder if it has something to do with the road texture?
Ya think?
CapriRacer: may be due to a different machine (I don’t know what the stripper machines are called) in use for that stretch. Or, same machine but hitting the asphalt at a different angle to your travel.