Help with Noise Diagnosis

Id change those ball joints ASAP and with oem. If youre planning to lift you can pet 2 birds at once and get uca’s instead of ubj.

 

sounds like a siren lol

 

No big deal, and honestly, the zip file was smart not having experience here.

 

Lol. Yeah it does. When I tried to describe it to my brother, I told him it was 'singing' to me.

 

Question. If it is the ball joints, shouldn't that have been found in the inspection? Because I passed inspection in November.

 

I’m not saying those are the ball joints, just thay you should change them asap. The sound its making do you “feel” something or is it just a sound?

 

Just a sound.

 

Check this thread out:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hi-pitched-humming-or-kazoo-noise-at-higher-speeds.741095/

 

Another one.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/humming-noise-at-high-speed.636710/

Oh, fair warning, that @boogie3478 dude is sketch AF. Use caution with him. He usually costs me money each time we talk

 

The rear wheel bearing sounds crazy but not entirely. If vibration is the cause, it can travel from the back to the front in the frame and force something else to make a sound.

My money is on the door weather striping others describe in those two threads I posted. My Lexus will sometimes do it if I have the sunroof cracked and the windows up. It draws so much air through at higher speeds the right rear door weather striping hums. If I just barely touch the window down button it stops. If I press against the inside of the window at speed it stops. It's a 2016 4 door sedan too and garage kept.

There's a weird howling/whistling sound issue with 3Rd Gens wherein the holes in the lower control arms depending on conditions will sorta sing. For me, even in the 2019 it is there but oddly, only when it rains. I even bought the 3 cent plugs off ebay to fix it. They are still in the bag they came in and it takes like 5 minutes tops. A ton of people initially thought this was a noise originating in the transmission. Someone ultimately put tape over the holes I think and that fixed it. There are threads on here about this.

Maybe you can test the door seal thing by stretching a piece of a cheap, clear, drop cloth around the inside of the door frame to test the weather stripping theory. Maybe even easier to just seal the door with blue painters tape, climbing in the from passenger side and take a test drive. If that isn't it, take it off and do the same thing to the other door, then the windshield. At least that way your out maybe a buck and your time if those fail.

Sometimes determining what it isn't by process of elimination is cheaper and easier than throwing money and time at what you think it is.

I think you can check the rear wheel bearings by jacking the truck up, using wheel stops and jack stands for safety, and see if you can shake the entire tire. Are you going to feel a minutely bad bearing? Probably not, but a definite bad one will provide the needed feedback. Just grab the bottom of the tire and pull it out and towards you. I think that would have turned up on the inspection too but I am unfamiliar with the process. If you try to shake that wheel and the entire truck moves (why the jack stands and wheel chocks) then most likely not that. Also, if you have a bad bearing, the seals sometimes leak too and there will be a visible mess around the inside of the wheel and on the tire.

 

Thanks for the other threads you posted. I'm reading through them as I have time.

The weatherstripping sounds like the most plausible explanation, but I expect it won't be that easy. I should have some time this week to test some of these theories and when I do, I'll report back.

Yeah, I'm not sure about the bearings. I was told today that there would be oil leaking around the axel if that were the case and I could check that. No garage here, I'm gonna wait for the ice to melt before I try to get under there to see.

 

No you don't. For free you can go to any DIY car wash to do it. Those bays are generally dry, and definitely won't have any snow. Or, for a nominal fee, go to a parking garage. Don't forget your flashlight!

Of course, a cheap moving blanket or even some broken down cardboard boxes will work too.

You can do it. I have faith in you!

 

Thats true. Good point.

Thanks!

 

Next puzzle piece:

I was able to take the highway to work today. I get on and I get up to 70mph and there's no noise! It's never failed to sing at those speeds. Then I'm driving back a few minutes ago for lunch and I push it up to 80mph. between 75-80 I am barely getting a hum. I lean left and right to see if it sounds louder closer to the doors, but only here it louder when I lean forward towards the hood. It sounds like its coming straight out of the hood. What's the deal though? It's always like an opera at those speeds. Is it too cold to vibrate? Is this some temperature-sensitive harpy living under my hood? I mean, it is pretty cold. It's in the teens here today.

 

Quick update:

I climbed under today and didn't see any build up, but I didn't have time to jack it up and shake the tires.

The singing started again at 55-60 today and it was over 30 degrees.

I still need to test the weatherstripping theory. From the other threads, It sounds like the weatherstripping can be brand new and still have issues.

 

Damn! The plot thickens!

 

This looked loose where I'm pointing. It felt loose. There's a small gap. Could this be it? Certainly sounds like the location. Is this testable? Should I try to shove something in the gap to see?

 

I believe one of the issues described in another thread, or maybe someone posted earlier, was the windshield moulding. Again blue painters tape covering that seam and you'd know.

To that effect, there is metal in that moulding I believe. Metal expands and contracts (of course, so does plastic & vinyl) so that could easily be it. If it is, some contractors grade silicone will fix it.

 

Honestly, that almost sounds like the speedometer cable is whirring. Pretty sure that you’ve got the cable style and not the electronic one.