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Diagnosing humming sound from the wheels

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Old Mar 15, 2020 | 12:14 PM
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Question Diagnosing humming sound from the wheels

Vehicle: 2002 Chevy S10 Blazer, LS, 4WD
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I've been trying to diagnose a very audible humming sound from the front wheel for a while now. It does sounds like a wheel bearing issue, but its not.
I just replaced the front wheel hubs recently. They were wearing out and I notice a smoother ride with the new ones, but that's not the cause of the sound.

Could it be CV axles? Front differential?
Or could it just be tires? I've been running with Cooper Adventurer AT tires for the past 4 years since I bought my Blazer. They do have 50k+ miles on them, but the treads are still good.
When I had them installed, I didn't notice any loud road or wheel noise when I first started driving it. The noise I'm diagnosing has been developing over the past 6 - 12 months.
The sound is noticeable at as low at 10 MPH.
 
Old Mar 15, 2020 | 01:20 PM
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Have you tried rotating your tires to see if the sound moves?
 
Old Mar 15, 2020 | 02:22 PM
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I rotate tires every 3 oil changes. I haven't tried it yet cause I have another one rotation due in about 1,500 miles.
I'll remember to check and see if it moves when I do the next one. As far as I'm aware, I've never noticed the sound declining after doing rotations before.
 
Old Mar 18, 2020 | 06:13 AM
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Tires are known to do this. As they wear the thread becomes less elastic and the noise pattern also can change when the channels between thread blocks get shallower. Then the tires age.

Also check tire pressure regularly. Depending on your load you can try and see what happens to noise/vibration from tires when inflating to the minimum specified by the manufacturer for the empty truck and the maximum allowable. That's a quick thing and may yield some result.

Not been doing many miles on mine for the last couple of years and sat for two years. The tires were finally 11 years old and I had all sorts of problems. Noise was also considerably more. Braking and cornering on wet roads became a danger. Changed them end of last year and what a difference.
 
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