Strange vibe/howl driving me nuts!!!!

[wolfman00hd]

About 5k miles ago, I had my tires rotated (ones in sig). I immediately noticed a howl/growl/slight vibe on the front end. I checked the tires and noticed that I obviously had been running them underinflated as they were worn on the edges more than the middle. After the rotate, they aired them up to the proper pressure (supposedly, they had about 42psi in them). I figured with the higher pressure, only the center of the tread was contacting and causing the howl and vibe. Fast forward to a week ago when I pulled my spare out (never on the ground) and mounted it on the front driver side thinking this would help a little. It did and I noticed that the front pass. side was still making the noise but only on the side w/the unevenly worn tire because when I would turn to the left and unload the pass. side tire/suspension, my howl/vibe would disappear. Fast forward again to today when I put three more new tires on the truck for a total new set. Had them all balanced and the damn vibration/howl/growl is still there. Still isolated to the front passenger side. They told me they put 60psi all the way around. Should I start dropping the pressure a little and see if it goes away? This is driving me absolutely batty. Noise is speed dependent and fairly loud (to me). What else could I check? Is there a wheel bearing assembly or something that could be dying? Brakes are fine and not dragging. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Adding insult to injury, I threw to BFG A/T's in the dumpster thinking they were the problem. I kept the other two for a rainy day. Tires had a total of about 58k on them but had decent tread left on the two that were worn evenly. What is the recommended psi for these tires from real world experience?



Thanks for any help.

Wolfman

 

[y-knot]

With a web name like "Wolfman", wouldn't you like a little Howl??/

 

[RTillery]

You might drop your driveshaft and check your u-joints. Do you notice it when you let off the throttle? These trucks have been known for poor joint life. My rear went at 80K.

 

[wolfman00hd]

Not the kind of howl I like to hear, at least not all the time. The noise is constant, accel and decel. I can hear it even at slow speeds in a parking lot and it's frequency seems to match the wheel speed (or so it seems).



Wolfman

 

[Hoefler]

If you ran your tires for a long time under inflated, the tire could be bad. If the noise was not there before you rotated them, rotate them back, if it goes away, bad tires.

 

[BLambert]

Sorry to latch on to your thread but I've been chasing the same issue. Truck has 181,000 mi. and has developed a howl/roar/whine (that might be me whining) that I can't really identify. Have had it to a good mech. and he's not sure of the source. His hearing isn't much better than mine so... Took it back a couple of weeks later with directions to replace the u-joints and if that didn't do to move on to the wheel bearings and was told that those were mighty pricy areas to do on a hunch. When a mech. turns down work, I usually listen but I've got to haul some stuff to Orlando for the grandkids and I sure don't feel like doing it on the back of a rollback. Sorry for the wordieness. I'm gonna start with U-joints first of the week.

B. P.

P. S. It wasn't the tires. It was time to change them out and to no positive effect.

 

[wolfman00hd]

If you ran your tires for a long time under inflated, the tire could be bad. If the noise was not there before you rotated them, rotate them back, if it goes away, bad tires.

As of now, it has four new tires on it so I know it's not the tires. Can anyone running BFG A/T in a 285 size on a 4x2 truck offer their best results as far as air pressure goes???

 

[wolfman00hd]

Well, BLambert nailed it. ******* identified trashed wheel bearing assembly on the front and he was also correct in it's priciness! $360 for the "assembly". Why do things have to be in an assembly these days? Highway robbery. ******* also decided to mention to me that in his tech's opinion, I needed to be prepared for upper ball joints (which apparently you have to buy already placed in new upper control arms), worn lower ball joints, and a leaky rack and pinion. I'm not sure how much of that I buy but I know I can do the upper control arms myself but will have to locate someone with a press to do the lower ball joints myself. Anyone got a spare rack off a 2wd third gen laying around somewhere? I know I can do that replacement myself as well. IIRC, wasn't there a recall or TSB on upper ball joints on these third gen's or was that just on 4x4's??? This truck is going to put me in the poor house. ******* also wanted me to know that my lift spacers probably had a lot to do with these premature problems. Damn truck only has 66k miles on it. If the spacers are responsible, they may be getting pulled off although I can't really stomach driving an un-leveled truck again. . ARggggggggghhhhhhh. . !!!



Wolfman