Front end noise/road noise

[Graham052]

I have a 05 ion that has developed a noise over the last month or so. It has progressively gotten louder and sounds like road noise (but it's not) It is loudest when you get over 35-45mph and completely related to road speed, not engine speed and it does not have any effect on the noise if I turn left or right. Tires are all in really good shape with about 20k on them, they have been regularly rotated and balanced.

this weekend I jacked up the car, set it on jack stands and tried to tell where the noise was coming from. I cannot feel any play in the wheels/wheel bearings and there is noise/vibration somewhere in the front end/driveline. With the car in the air I put it in drive with a helper to listen for noise but we were not able to pinpoint it. It is MUCH more noticible from inside the cab, you can hear and feel it. While outside, you can barely hear anything over the engine noise. It did look like there might be a slight amount of play where the driveaxle meets the trans, but I am not sure if that is normal. Any help is much appreciated!

[2006 ion2]

bad bearing. they build them so there is almost never play on them anymore. you can drive or until the wheel comes off and it will not have excessive play until right before it comes off. I saw this on my sister's and friend's cars.

[Graham052]

Really? even with the front end in the air so we could try to pinpoint it we could not hear anything from the wheel bearing area?? I would just hate to buy new hubs and not have it fix the problem. Thanks for the reply, maybe Ill try to pull the hubs off and see what it looks like

[2006 ion2]

when I pulled my sister's hub off' there were no obvious signs of trouble, and like you, didn't believe it could be bad. I replaced it anyways, and sure enough, the noise went away. pulling them off just to look at them is a waste of time imo. just try your best to figure out which one is bad. if you cannot, a mechanic should be able to easily tell.

[JH6]

My 03 had a front wheel bearing fail, and it had zero play in it as well.

It was making a grinding noise, very obvious that there was a problem with the car.

Get it looked at. I bought my bearing from am-autoparts online, they were the cheapest.

[Graham052]

Thanks for the suggestions. It was the driver side wheel bearing, I pulled everything apart and when I pulled the hub out and spun the bearing I could tell it was bad. Strange that it still felt tight, and I could not hear any grinding coming from the bearing. Back together and quiet again, Thanks!