Weird grinding/humming noise

I recently developed a weird humming/vibration noise from my passenger tire area. It only occurs when I'm traveling faster then 40 mph and only when I steer to the left, even slightly like on a highway to pass. Otherwise the vehicle is totally smooth with no noise. Any ideas? I'm going to rotate the tires but if that doesn't work could a wheel bearing cause this? There doesn't seem to be much play when I pull on the tire when the truck is off the ground.

 

It could be a wheel bearing yes. That's what I'd lean towards from your description.

 

bearing is dying

 

Kind of what I figured but I didn't want to hear. Thanks guys. Without digging too much through the thread is there anyway to make sure 100% it's the bearing without pulling things apart? I mean odds are now I'll just replace the front two with what Bama sells but I'd be interested to know more.

 

Remove wheel and retract brake pads so they do not contact rotor. Install wheel and spin by hand. Do both sides.

 

Spinning things by hand and wiggling can usually diagnose the problem but I have encountered bad wheel bearings that don't make themselves apparent through either of those methods. You can try measuring the temperature of the bearing after an extended period of highway driving and comparing to a good bearing; the running temp of the bad bearing should be noticeably higher than that of the bad one. Sometimes pitting on the race or a ball can make a racket at speed but will be imperceptible when just spinning the wheel by hand.

 

Don't want to hijack the thread but is there an "average" miles that these things fail at? I've got 85k on my PreRunner, most road miles nothing hard core, I like to save up to cover the cost of maintenance.

 

No worries on a threadjack here. I basically have my answer.

As for your question the Toyota front end bearings are a real weakness on the Tacoma. I've seen the factory ones fail at anywhere from 20k-100k, though around 60k miles seems about average. Whatever you do don't replace them with NAPA or other aftermarket company assemblies. I've seen those fail within 10k. It seems like the only fix is to replace them with OEM ($$$$) or with Bamatoys assemblies ($$) that he presses himself with high end parts.

My passenger bearing will need replacing at 25K miles. I do offroad though so likely water crossings killed my bearing.

 

Thanks OP for the response...I guess I need to start saving my pennies. I haven't noticed any unusual sound but seems like it just a matter of time

 

I replaced my axal bearing and shaft, sort of fixed it. Requires press work