Does this sound like a wheel bearing?

I've got a resonant growling that I hear in the front of the truck (don't know from where yet). It's not very loud (or I don't hear it) until I hit about 65-70 mph. Then I'll hear it loud and will also hear it as the truck slows down until about 50mp, then it becomes quiet. It seems to change with speed. I'm guessing front diff or wheel bearings. I don't hear it at slower speeds and haven't noticed it change with turns.

I had my wife drive (yikes!) and I held a recorder to the floorboard. I pasted the audio here:

https://clyp.it/riw5zbn4

Hard to hear but around 9 seconds in you hear it get a little louder and then descend in pitch as the truck slows. It's got a kind of 'shimmy' sound. metallic, resonant, growling.

I've got the dreaded diff bearing problem on the driver's side. I'm wondering too, if that might be causing this sound at higher speeds but I haven't read of that symptom yet.

Thanks.

 

What tires do u have? Are they evenly worn or are they cupping/ feathering? If they're cupped out, rotate your tires and see if the noise goes away...

 

The tires are Toyo Open Country AT2. They are evenly worn, but I won't rule them out. If it's them, they're really ringing. I searched about them and most people say they are quiet.

I'll rotate them and see. That'd be a nice solution since my build plans involve ditching them.

 

yeah I can kinda hear,,,something, wheel bearings are usually pretty constant & pronounced , it could be a diff bearing..

I wouldn't rule that out ...

 

It's a lot easier to hear in the truck (obviously). It's the high pitched rhythmic sound in the audio.

I def. have the bad driver's side diff bearing that gives the rumble at 25-40 mph and goes away with 4hi. I'm just debating jumping into that before I can figure out what this noise is (if it's not the same cause). Meaning: If more of the diff is bad than just that bearing, why throw money at it? Why not cut it out and start an SAS? See my dilemma?

 

Is the ride very rough? It sounds like the tires as another person had said. What kind of surface is this? It sounds like cement pavement which is pretty loud compared to ashfault

 

do you get the growling when your turn one way or the other?

When the growling occurs turn left or right and see if it goes away. If it happens at highway speeds then find a highway with sharper banks.

 

The ride is not rough. There is a slight steering wheel shake around 65mph that comes and goes. I attribute it to bad balance. The shake was worse when I got the truck (1 month ago) so I had the tires rotated and balanced a few times, chasing it. Each time, the shake changed (the speed at which it occurred and the intensity). Since I plan to replace them, once I figure out that the shaking was balance related, I just left them where they are at (slight occasional shake at 65mph). They are mounted on the stock aluminum wheels which are a pain to balance without the fancy Haweka adapter. Or so I've been told.

The audio was taken on a cement highway and begins with the truck traveling at 70mph then decreases down the exit ramp.

 

I would think its the tires and rims. I just changed my wife's tires on her pathfinder and found the ride noise deceased significantly. If it reacts the same way on an ashfault road I would look at the wheel bearings. I would expect wheel bearings to have play in them no matter the speed though

 

It happens both on cement and asphalt, but it's hard to tell if it changes, since so many things change as well.

To be clear, I hear normal highway tire noise on top of this sound. And when I hit asphalt, that normal tire noise gets quieter, and this growl/ringing is still there. On some asphalt it's louder and other asphalt is softer. But I don't really know if it's volume it actually changing or if my overall perception is because of the decrease in other sounds.

 

Best way to is to jack up each tire and spin then check for slop, noise and difficulty turning. I had a bad bearing all I had was a clunk when I hit a hole, 1/4" of play and no howling.

Check the usual stuff first. U joints, carrier bearing, break rotors, idler pulley. Ac compressor, tranny and tcase fluid levels. While it may seem that it's speed related it could be RPM/load related. After that sort of stuff I would replace the diff bearing.

 

Debris in the front brakes can cause a screeching noise. During the tire rotation, inspect the gap between rotor and backing plate.

 

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I now think it's the tires. I put the fronts on the rear and though the noise is still loud, it seems to have moved towards the back (and become louder). The front bearings passed a shake test.

These tires have the strangest ring I've ever heard. Stranger and louder than the E-rated Duratracs I once put on my last truck for about a week.

Good to know I can proceed with my build without worrying about a troubled front diff or the like.

Thanks again.