Howling Noise, Gets Louder w/Speed *NOT BEARINGS*

[RandomNerd2000]

So, I've hit a nice bump in the road, my 2000 Explorer is howling in the front end, it gets louder with speed and by 60 MPH it's really loud, so I put wheel bearings on it, both sides, I had a new set I got on a steal so I put them in, and we're still howling. Truck has 265,200 miles. Only things I have I ponder about this is the tires are Goodyear Wranger Radials, they're almost worn out, just above the wear bars, and the steering wheel vibrates a bit around 40 MPH. Any ideas? I'm thinking tires but 15" tires are expensive and hard to find unless they're new here so I don't wanna throw things at it.

 

[Turdle]

Tires and alignment are a good place to start.
AWD needs matching tires, brand and size, all the way around. Different brands of tires, even though the same "size" have different revolutions per mile.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

The tires all match, and once you're past 60MPH I discovered earlier it gets a lot quieter. I'm hoping it's not the front differential since that looks like a complete bear to change

 

[RandomNerd2000]

So update to this thread, checked differential fluid, was a bit low (half quart) so I topped it off, still no change, the CV axles and driveshaft are also nice and snug, feels good and healthy, lash feels good too, no real wear seemingly. I did notice though the tires are visibly wrong, they're not worn outta level, they're just not flat across, and if you turn it to lock either way and turn tight no noise, like you can be going 15 MPH and have minor noise and turn it tight and it'll shut up.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Swap the tires to the rear and see if it Changes.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

So, the Goodyears are now on the back, and peace and quiet is a wonderful thing, I've yet to find why they got to the point of extreme noise, they were quiet to begin with, and quiet on the back, and the front tires don't wear funny to suggest a bad alignment.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Are they Wranglers? They are notoriously loud as they age.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Yes, Wrangler Radials, I got them around Christmas, they were almost silent, rode pretty well, I liked them a good bit, but that's out the window, they look fine, I'm getting rid of them this week though, I'm rather uphappy with them, they wear quickly and this noise issue is a big turn off for me, the ones on the front now are a year newer than the ones I moved to the back, I guess they're just extremely HARD.

 

[koda2000]

I've replaced a fairly new set of Goodyear Wranglers that came on our 2000 Monty AWD. Absolutely hated them. Handled weird and were noisy.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

Yes, Wrangler Radials,

The worst tire if you ask me.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I'm done with them, I can't blame the guy who sold them to me cheap for about giving them away, I should've seen a catch coming. On another note, the about best tires I've ever had were Kuhmos, this truck when I bought it had them on it and I'll give it credit, those things all were perfectly balanced even when worn out and rode and handled good even when they were rubber marbles. These were the ones. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kumho-Solus-KR21-Tire-P235-75R15-XL-108T/33078859

 

[Mbrooks420]

My favorites are probably general grabbers at2s. Great tires.

 

[koda2000]

This spring/summer I plan to take my 6 year old grandson to visit his aunt in Orlando FL. I hate flying (especially these days) and will be driving my 2001 EB. While my Michelin LTX's aren't totally worn out yet, they're pretty old, so I plan on replacing them beforehand. I'm planning on going with Michelin's again. I don't know what their current light truck tires are, but I've found the XLT's to wear like iron while giving good handling and ride.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

When I finish my V8 Eddie Bauer in a week or two ideally, I plan to replace the tires on it, they're almost all in good shape, however the rears don't match each other, or the fronts (they do match), and I've debated a set of Michelins, probably though, just for the look aspect since I never take it off road, nor do I intend to, will end up with something in the AT tire department like Nitto Terra Grapplers or Hankook Dynapro ATs, again just for the look aspect. About the only tires I've ever had, or seen, what I'd consider bad service from are Good-Years.

 

[Indispensable Explorer]

I have not run wrangler radials, but I have felt the construction and I have to say, not impressed. At 75 bucks it is the second cheapest tire available in 235/75/15 on Discount Tire's website, and it shows.
Spend time researching tires before you go to the tire shop, look online, ask the installer questions. Do not cheap out on tires, they are (ideally) the only thing touching the road so take your time. I do not have in depth experience with a ton of brands, but I can say that the Michelins on a family member's Escape have a solid amount of tread depth after years of (aggressive) driving, and after I drove it in the snow/ice I was surprised that I did not slip once. The BFGoodrich Long Trail T/A tour tires on my parent's 2wd Expedition handle surprisingly well in the wet grass and mud, in addition to the tires wearing reasonably well and being quiet. When I get tires for my Explorer I will probably go with the Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10 because I want something that does not get me stuck when I park in my backyard, but I also want something that is also reasonably quiet where I do most of my driving, and from my research the hankooks check both boxes.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I have not run wrangler radials, but I have felt the construction and I have to say, not impressed. At 75 bucks it is the second cheapest tire available in 235/75/15 on Discount Tire's website, and it shows.
Spend time researching tires before you go to the tire shop, look online, ask the installer questions. Do not cheap out on tires, they are (ideally) the only thing touching the road so take your time. I do not have in depth experience with a ton of brands, but I can say that the Michelins on a family member's Escape have a solid amount of tread depth after years of (aggressive) driving, and after I drove it in the snow/ice I was surprised that I did not slip once. The BFGoodrich Long Trail T/A tour tires on my parent's 2wd Expedition handle surprisingly well in the wet grass and mud, in addition to the tires wearing reasonably well and being quiet. When I get tires for my Explorer I will probably go with the Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10 because I want something that does not get me stuck when I park in my backyard, but I also want something that is also reasonably quiet where I do most of my driving, and from my research the hankooks check both boxes.

The Wrangler Radials are rather soft seeming to begin with, which is what amazed me when I discovered they were the noise, and all of it, I'm not sure if new ones would have done differently when worn out, I do doubt it. I was beginning to think the front differential, since at 265K it's likely well worn. I actually had one of those Hankooks on a 2001 XLT I had last year, it was a 2WD non limited slip, so I tossed it on the right rear, and that thing would go almost anywhere, I was genuinely amazed.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good you found the noise, tires can do that with bad wear or a broken belt inside.

I've got a set of Cooper AT3's which a I like, they're not loud and I think will last longer than the Michelin's I ate up last year(eleven months in 24k miles). I'd try for those, they ran about $132 in the 16's, but I caught a sale for $100 off on eBay from Discount Tire.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

@CDW6212R Well the tires came off a 95 with really bad suspension components and like 290K miles, truck was completely rotten too, so I'm sure it'd been neglected, just by how it looked. These Good-Years I'd guess last between 20 and 25K miles, which seems semi short to me compared to some tires I've had, I've had tires on my Explorers that looked like they'd last a good long time. I don't see $80 a tire in the Good Years, I've had to replace two of them already, one due to a short blunt faced screw like you'd see in computers appearing up in the corner, and one due to a rock in the sidewall, little tiny white round rock, so it's safe to say I'm done with them.

 

[CDW6212R]

I've already had to plug two of my "new" Michelin's, in the last month. One was last Saturday, a roofing nail, and the first was a long Allen headed bolt. I was fortunate with the long bolt(2") last month, I was at a house and the residents were home, husband happened to have some scattered Allen wrenches. He gave me the first three he found, and one was a perfect fit, maybe a 3/16" size. I had to unscrew the bolt out for a while, fine threads. I would have had a hard time trying to pull it out, the head was a countersunk shape, even with the tread surface. You get lucky sometimes, if a bolt in a new tire can be called lucky. Both tire repairs took me less time than swapping a spare tire on. I don't do that if I don't have to.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

@CDW6212R Yeah I ride with plugs and all the tools and a power port compressor, if I find something in one I plug it generally on the spot, air it up and go ahead, unless it's in the side. I've never used my spare but once, when I had the rock in the sidewall and aired it to plug it and that wasn't really an option.