A few months ago I noticed more road noise when driving then I had ever had. Tires are about 5 years old but still have lots of tread depth left. Still a good bit of thread above the wear tabs. Tire wear is also even and no visible issues. A quick look at the suspension and drive components and nothing looks bad. Bushings I could see all look good. The weather has not been good on the times I have had to look at the car and haven't put it up in the air to really get under it but from what I can see with it on the ground nothing sticks out.

Car tracks fine and there are no vibrations just increased road noise.

Tires are my first thought but besides being about 5 years old they look good. No signs of excessive or uneven wear.

 

How many miles on the tires and how often do you rotate?

 

Many tires will get more noisy as the miles accumulate on them. Have you rotated the tires to see if the noise follows a specific tire or pair of tires?

The other possibility could be a worn wheel bearing.

 

Yup, average annual miles driven is 12k, so 5x12= 60k . Good possibility his tires are nearing the end of their lifespan.

I hadn't thought of bearings. That's a DEFINITE possibility.

 

How's your alignment?

 

I'll third the motion on wheel bearings; the bearings in the rear hubs of both my 2001 V6 Accord (probably the exact same hubs as on the 2G TL) and my 3G TL got/have gotten very noisy. When I replaced the hubs in the Accord I was stunned how quiet the car suddenly drove. I'll be doing the hubs on my TL in the next week or so; can't wait.

 

^^With 320k on my TL, I've replaced them all, some twice. I learned the hard way not to go cheap on bearings. Had pretty good luck with Timkin.

 

I did some research and ultimately settled on SKF hubs from RockAuto. Yes these are Chinese made, so that is a red-flag, however, my local shop swears by them and they come with a 36-month warranty. The good news is they are reasonably inexpensive at $135.58 for the pair.

 

SKF is another good one. Most of these outfits have at least some of their product lines made in china(including Timkin), It's the materials and QC that sets them apart from the lower end bearings though.

 

Agreed, if I'm not mistaken, SKF is actually an American company with some manufacturing and/or assembly over in China.

 

Got it up in the air today and checked some things out. With the front tires off the ground, I put it in drive and you could hear the noise. It was actually louder inside the car than outside. The noise was coming from the front. Front driver side more than the passenger side. With the car up on stands, I also checked for any lose driveline parts. Nothing was lose when pushed/pulled.

Guessing it is a bearing in the front. Never replaced the front bearing in an FWD car but I've done enough work I'm sure I can do it.

How involved is it to replace the front bearings?

 

Bearing likely, but so too is an axle. I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty of videos of front bearing replacement for Honda Accords on YouTube.

 

How do I tell between a bearing and axle? I can try and rock the tires back and forth on the sides and top/bottom and get no play. My only symptom seems to be the noise.

 

While driving, if the noise increases in a left turn then it's likely the right bearing, if in a right turn then it's likely the left bearing. The theory is that you are increasing force on the outside wheel of whichever way the car is turning which will generally expose the bad bearing. If the bearing only makes noise while at highway speed then you can do some gentle weaving(of course with no other traffic around) and get the same result.

I kinda doubt it's a bad axle unless you are experiencing odd vibrations or clicking noises.

Anyway, front bearing replacement is kind of a bitch on these things. The steering knuckle needs to come out then you press the hub out of the bearing, then press the bearing out of the knuckle. Usually, the inner race of the bearing will stick to the spindle of the hub, so that needs to be carefully slotted with a cutting wheel and pounded with a cold chisel to crack it off. If you don't have a hydraulic press you can take the knuckle to a local shop and they can R&R the bearing usually pretty cheap. there are several videos online to see the general process.

 

For those that have replaced the front bearing. Did you also replace the Hub? Ordered the bearings and now wondering if I will need the Hub also.

 

The one mechanic I took mine to for a quote said that he was going to order the hub with the bearing because he often encounters them fused/rusted together. Depending on the condition of your knuckle and whether you live in the rust belt or not, I would consider getting the hub as well.

I ended up not having him fix it but I'm going to potentially replace the hub as well. I'm going to remove the knuckle and have a shop press the parts back in.

 

Chances are the hub is fine but like I said earlier, when the hub is pressed out of the bearing the bearing race will be stuck to the hub and need to be removed with grinder/chisel method. Then the main body of the bearing needs to be pressed out of the knuckle which will be in there freaking tight, thus the need for a heavy duty press.

 

Replaced the front bearing today. Somewhat a PIA but definitely doable. Used ATD Tools 8625 kit to press out and in the hub and bearing.

One of the races from the old bearing was stuck on the hub after pressing it out. Had to use an angle grinder to cut a grove in the race and then a cold chisel to break it off. If I did it again I might just buy a new hub.

The ride is quite once again.

Thanks to all that posted.