Help! I cannot figure out what the rubbing/humming noise from my front end is!

Hello Everyone!

Let me start off by saying I have been a long time lurker of these forums, but have not signed up until today.

To get down to business. I noticed that my 2009 Tacoma (4cycl 4x4 access cab) is making a rubbing/humming noise from the passenger side of the truck. The truck has 71k, and I bought it new with 6 miles on it. Let me start off with saying I thought the noise could be cupped tires, and since they were relatively old , the first thing I did was have the tires replaced (I bought mastcraft hsx's $165.00/ea). Much to my surprise when I left town fair tire, the rubbing/humming was still present. I then tried diagnose the issue a little more. The noise is present in 2wd, and 4wd. The noise stops when I turn right, and offload the weight of the right side. From this I decided that it had to be the passenger side wheel bearing. So yesterday (from the help of this site..thank you!), I removed the hub/bearing had a new one pressed (moog) in. With the wheel bearing replaced, I got it all buttoned up and took for a test drive. The noise is still there! So I spent last night doing a little more research, and thought that it had to be the passenger side cv axle. So once again today I spent the day in the garage, swapped the cv axle (w/ a napa reman), and buttoned it up again. Took it for a ride, and the noise is still there!

The noise almost sounds like tire noise (if I had really aggressive tires). I really at a loss of what else it could be? Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Could a warped rotor or worn pads do this?

Thanks in advance for any input given!

~Nick

 

are you sure it's from the passager side?

Jack the truck up and check the drivers side wheel bearing.

Could it be a rear axle bearing going out?

 

Alignment & road force balance the tires.

 

Any suspension mods on the truck?

Any wheeling or other tough use?

 



I am 99% postive it is comming from the passenger side. Plus when I offload weight off the passenger side it goes away.




When I bought the new tires they where balanced, and I also had an alignment. The exact noise was occurring with my old tires as well.



No modifications to the suspension at all. The truck is completely stock. I have not done any wheeling, or tough use. The 4wd gets a lot of use in the Maine winters.

 

Is one of the mud flaps loose and or rubbing on the tire? Or the plastic from the fender well?

 

LOL, surprisingly this is not something I considered. I will check them tomorrow.

 

not sure about the 4cycl, but the v6 has the air inlet in the right front fender, take that off and see if the noise goes away

 

I checked this out today, tires are not rubbing on anything. Mud flaps are all secure.

 

Bearings will hum/ roar.

 

Maybe the tire is rubbing the UCA or brake pads. Idk man I wish I could help

 

I made this video of the noise, and uploaded it to youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MQeaoxUFks&feature=plcp

 

Definitely sounds like a wheel bearing. i hear them sound like that all the time.
im a tech for a toyota dealership.

 

I replaced the front wheel bearing two days ago. Maybe its the passenger rear bearing? It sounds like it coming from up front, but maybe it vibrating up front.

 

x2

 

alot of times it can sound like it coming from the front but its the rear. did you put toyota wheel bearing in it or aftermarket? the rear is more common to go out than the front

 

I did not use a toyota wheel bearing, I tried to get one from napa, but the closet one was in new york (they told me 4 days shipping). I took the day off to swap it out, so I wanted to get it done, I ended up using a moog front wheel hub assembly from advanced auto parts. I really didn't have
too much trouble doing the front bearing, is the rear more difficult? I will search the site for diy.

 

id recommend using the factory bearing but those probably will do fine, the rear bearings are easier to do than the front.

 

After I put the new (very heavy) bumper on my 05 I started to notice a shudder. My tires were already cupped and they hummed a little but this was a new sound.
The factory bumper which is quite light made contact with these little pads on the body. Once the new bumper went on these pads the shudder started. It only happened at slow speeds in turns. Less so going to the right(weight coming off the pass side).
I figured out the new bumper was the cause of the noise and then I lived with it. Within a year it got worse. It shuddered bad when braking in turns and I realized the bumper was most likely wearing out my front end.
I got some new, bigger wheels and tires and in turn had to get a 3"lift. While they were in there I had em replace the front wheel bearings as they were reported to have had a small amount of play, but no humm.
After I picked up the parts for the bearings from Toyota, the guys had to go back to Toyota 3 times to get the right parts. They kept giving them the wrong seals and well anyway, once they got the new lift, new wheels, tires and bearings in, everything was much better.
Probably a totally different problem than yours but mine originated with the new bumper, and it was weeks to a month before we could figure out exactly where the noise was coming from.

 

Prob. was a bearing the entire time..only the weight of the new bumper stressed the front end enough to make it come to light right away.