My 2003 wrx has increasing road noise - its getting hard to hear the radio - no grinding, no pops, grunting - just loud and louder humming above 40 mph - even when i put it in neutral. drives fine - could this be tires?

Humming Noise Front End- Any Ideas? - Ford Explorer and Ranger ...

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Dec 18, 2008 - 19 posts - ‎16 authors
Have a 98- Eddie 4.0 SOHC, 4WD with a 100,000 mi. When driving it has a humming noise, it almost sounds like a bad tire, or a ... I start to hear the humming noise at 20 mph, it is very loud at 40 to 50 mph ... 94 XLT-95 FX4. humming gets louder as speed increases
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Does it get louder as you go faster? This could be a bad wheel bearing. Go for a drive on a safe street or road with no traffic. Drive at 40 mph and now put the vehicle in neutral and shut the engine off. If you still have this noise it is probably a wheel bearing. Try to determine which corner the noise is loudest to find which wheel bearing is making the most noise. You may need to lift all 4 wheels off the ground and test to find the noise. Be careful and use jack stands. I hope this helps. Rod

ITS PROBABLY TOUR WHEEL BEARING . IF YOUR GOING DOWN THE ROAD AND THE LONGER YOU DRIVE THE LOUDER IT GETS. OR IF YOU TAKE YOUR WHEEL AND GO BACK AND FORTH A LITTLE WHILE MOVING AND THE NOISE COMES AND GOES ITS PROBABLY A BEARING . A CV JOINT WILL POP WHEN TURNING HARD AND ACCELERATING . THIS BEARING PRESSES IN WITH THE HUB ITS A PRETTY DIFFICULT JOB IF YOUR NOT A TECHNICIAN WELL GOOD LUCK

wheel bearings most likley im a bit botherd by the "rotated front tyers" bit???

It sounds like a possible wheel bearing failure.Get it checked at a local repair shop ,or possible loose bearing hub.

Hello,
Noise can be also from some sticky brake pad, or the bearings of the rear wheels, or even some spoiler, but you should have noticed it right after installing, and it is another sound. As for the differential, there might be a broken tooth, or again bearings, regardless of oil state.

MOST of the hums after a while come from the diff as the back axle does the driving and almost all its life runs the same way except when going in reverse ,is the rear diff meshing and worn on both the crownwheel and the pinion and the humming gets slightly louder the faster you go and almost goes when almost stopped and this can also be the slight vibration you get so get the diff oil drained and refilled and check if there is any metal in the oil when drained if so thats your problem But it will last for years like that..Let me know how you get on RON

Tough one; Is there a roof rack on that car? The cross members could cause that, they're removable. Try that. If it were tire noise you'd hear them with the windows up even louder. If not the roof rack look for loose moldings esp around the windows.

You have a hub/wheel bearing going out. You need to jack up the vehicle on each side. Grab the top and bottom of the wheel and try to move it in/out at the top and bottom. If this does not work then roll the wheel as fast as you can and see if you can hear which one it is. Good Luck.

Try jacking your vehicle up and turning the tires. listen for any odd noise like a grinding sound, wheels hubs have been known to make a grinding noise when they go bad.