Annoying whining sound from front tires | Ford Explorer Forums

  • Register Today It's free!

Annoying whining sound from front tires

Forder

Well-Known Member
Joined
February 3, 2002
Messages
455
Reaction score
0
City, State
West Point, NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
'94 XLT, '05 Altima 3.5
I just rotated and balanced my tires the weekend before last and every since I've drove it after that, my truck has made the most annoying whining, fine vibration sound I've ever heard come out of a vehicle. It's definitly linked to the wheel somehow because the sound pulses with each rotation with the tires. I know it's not my tires cuz the tread on them isn't that aggessive and wouldn't make that much of a noise no matter what. And I know it's not my ball joints cuz I just had them replaced last October. So I took it back to my dad's shop where I had them rotated and balanced and put it up on the lift, took the tire off and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. But when I tried to turn the rotor, it would turn halfway, then be extremely hard to turn, almost impossible with your arms. Same deal on the other side, the tire seemed harder to turn then I remembered. I just had new pads and a new rotor on the right, and turned my rotor on the left put last october too. The sound is worse on the left side, but it comes from the right also. I'm afraid the rotors are warped already. Any ideas on what else it could be?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





sounds like the hubs are engaged or didnt disengage properly
 






They'r Warn Manuals. Checked that too, the half shafts arent turning so don't think it's that either.
 






Bearings are shot IMO.
 






No way

They can't be already, I just had them replaced like last October. That'd be extremely crappy if they were already wore out.
 












before you go replacing bearings and what not i would recommend that you check the tread on your tires to make sure that they are not cupped. Ex's have a strange way of wearing through tires (especially the shorter wheelbase 2-doors) and require frequent rotation.

run your hand along the tread of your tires and see if it is even/level. if not they can be very noise and cause vibration.


hope this helps.

James =)
 






What P.S.I. are you running? My tires make a squealing noise when they start getting low......
 






35 PSI

I put exactly 35 PSI in'em when I rotated and balenced them. They're perfectly flat accross the tread so trust me.. it's not the tires that are makin the sound. They just started makin this sound soon after I rotated and balenced them. But I don't neccessarily think it's related to it. Like I said when I tried to turn the wheel (on the lift), it would let me turn it halfway with somewhat ease, but then it would tighten up severly and be hard to turn with your arms. So I'm guessin sumthin's wrong with the calipers or the rotor is warped, but I didn't think it would cause that bad of a sound.. :(
 






Re: 35 PSI

Originally posted by Forder
They're perfectly flat accross the tread so trust me.. it's not the tires that are makin the sound.

Oh, well if it's not the tires your post subject is misleading.
Like I said when I tried to turn the wheel (on the lift), it would let me turn it halfway with somewhat ease, but then it would tighten up severly and be hard to turn with your arms. So I'm guessin sumthin's wrong with the calipers or the rotor is warped, but I didn't think it would cause that bad of a sound.. :(

the steering wheel gives you resistance and your power steering pump is whining? or when you spun one of the cars four wheels when they were off the ground (car on lift) you had these symptoms. yes that sounds just a warped rotor and that will vibrate and make all kinds of obnoxious funky sounds. you should be able to move the wheels with some resistance and they should not spin freely.
 






Sorry, meant to say "wheels" instead of "tires." I'm talking about rotating the front tires with my hand while the truck is up on the lift. Not doing anything with the steering. The steering is fine and dandy. Since most of the noise is coming from the left front wheel, that wheel is harder to rotate than the right front. Though the right front is still harder to turn than I remember. I know they're not going to turn freely without any resistance at all, but then I turn them, they're so tight that as soon as I let go of the wheel after trying to spin it, they stop rotating as soon as I let go, not spinning at all.
 






Can you try removing the caliper and spinning the wheel? The you'd at least know if the binding is brake related.
 






Featured Content

Back
Top