I began to hear a roaring sound that I was so sure was tire feathering or a bad tire belt that I replaced the entire set. The tires were replaced with the top down and when I drove off there was no noise. Unfortunately, with the top back up, the noise is still there.

Sound likes driver's side but I cannot tell if front or rear. Worse at 35 to 45 miles per hour. At slower speeds it has a irregular sound.

Seems to be mitigated somewhat by applying the brakes, but I can't think of a brake issue that would cause the roaring sound.

Anyway, I had the rear axle fittings greased recently. The diff fluid was replaced a few years ago and has less than 20K since. The car has just turned 71K,

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

Is your air intake snorkel properly connected? Mine came loose when the motor mounts wore down, got some similar noises.

 

Good idea, but it looks like the snorkel is OK.

Could it be a warped brake rotor? There is no shutter when braking, so I had ruled that out, although the noise seems to go away when hitting the brakes. There is no discernable noise with the top down.

 

It sounds like a bad hub bearing but hard to tell without checking each wheel for movement and play. Get the car in the air and try to wiggle the tire vertically and horizontally and see what you find.

 

That sounds like a distinct possibility Gus. Does the mileage 70+k sound about right for that? And, how long can I go before replacing if that is the case?

 

Hope you solve the issue. Unwanted noise is always a worry.

 

My rear hub was making noise so I started to pull it off the car when it fell apart on my foot. Now how long do you think you have.. Check the car and find the noise.

 

Thanks again Gus. I will jack up each corner and check for wobble. First thing tomorrow before I drive again.

 

Update -- checked the wheels for wobble -- all of the wheels have some play, which I consider normal. The driver side rear wheel might have a tad more than the rest, but not much. I will let it ride for a while until the noise is more identifiable.

 

Madbrad,
I'm having the very same issue you were or are having. I've checked everything you did. Still roars....seems to be getting worse. Sounds just like unevenly worn truck mud tires. lol. Please let me know what you did to resolve this. Thanks, Brian and Nathalie

 

I don't think having play in all the wheels are normal.
There's a chance that either all of your bearings are warning you, or you have a combination of bearings and bushing issues.

My wheels are very tight with zero play either side to side or up and down.

 

On the 97 K cars, you will notice a slight bit of play when moving the rear wheels (pushing on the top and bottom of the tire). This is normal but is not coming from the rear hub bearings but rather is normal movement in the axle bearings in the diff. But, the front are sealed bearings that are zero tolerance. There should be no movement in them at all! If there is any, they should be replaced. They are a common issue.

Cheers

 

Both my front bearings were toast by 75k miles. You couldn't really feel play in them. One was much worse than the other but both were making noise. I initially blamed the tires too.

 

There is a lot more play in front wheels from the inner tie rods. If the wheel bearing is going bad it would be very hard to diagnose by wheel play. Like Torrid, mine were bad at 80K miles, but there wasn't play from the bearings.

Drive about 30-40 mph and change lanes. If the roaring increases/decreases during the lane change, its the front wheel bearings.

 

It was the driver's side rear wheel bearing. Noise gone!