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Last week I finally got around to diagnosis a road nose issue. I suspected it to be a wheel hub (driver). Take note that I bought the car in 2007 and never changed the wheel hubs, nor brake calipers. These are the only thing in the front end that need replaced to be "new". I changed the wheel hub w/o a air ratchet and did all the right torque specs. This significantly changed the noise to what I thought was normal road noise, it could be road noise. I bought a Duralast hub because I am tight on money. I heard mixed reviews. Every where I looked I found one thing in common, Made in China. So Duralast it is. Guys, I'm not the smartest socket in the chest, but I did successfully change out elbows and intakes w/o leaks, this also includes a full reverse flush.

My problem is that I think my new wheel hub is bad, OR my other wheel hub is bad and sound is playing with me. I hear a hum sound that sound like the country road just got tar and graveled. (I live in the country) The problem I have is that I can not Hurc the back hub bolts off. I torched them, I used a 900/pound hammer ratchet....and cussed a lot. I'm at the point of stripping them @*$%ers off and have come to the conclusion of just grinding the hub (only) off to get the bolts off and to buy new $10 bolts off amazon....

I also noticed that I have uneven wear on my outer brake pad on the passenger.

Is it me, the tire (Goodyear firehawk), the new hub, or the passenger? What do you guys think? Also, could brakes cause cabin noise?

My money is on the hub being bad. I've never had a duralast work for a long time. As for the brakes wearing unevenly, it could be as simple as a sticking slide pin.

haro1225 wrote:My money is on the hub being bad. I've never had a duralast work for a long time. As for the brakes wearing unevenly, it could be as simple as a sticking slide pin.

I'm with haro125. When this similar thing happened to me on the '92, it was the hub that didn't get replaced causing the noise. - BC

haro1225 wrote:My money is on the hub being bad. I've never had a duralast work for a long time. As for the brakes wearing unevenly, it could be as simple as a sticking slide pin.

I know I write confusing post and jump around sometimes. When you say "on the hub being bad" do you mean the one NOT replaced?

No I mean the duralast one. I went through SIX in a four month period on one side. I got a timken and never did it again.

haro1225 wrote:No I mean the duralast one. I went through SIX in a four month period on one side. I got a timken and never did it again.

Holy smokes, haro!
6 hubs in 4 months is at least 4 more than I would have been able to stand.

Just for information's sake, Timken which used to be "Made in USA" now sells at least some "Made in Korea" hubs.
I had purchased 4 Timken hubs for my 93 SLE.
I received 3 that were made in the US and the other was made in Korea. (A call to Timken verified that both types were indeed genuine Timken products.)
The US made ones were look-alikes for OEM hubs.
The Timken Korea-made front hub had studs that were not the same diameter in the knurl/splined section as the OEMs.
Consequence?
Damage or break one and finding a replacement may be much more difficult than you imagine.
Your original studs will not fit.

As careful as you are when replacing tires, your local inspection station or tire shop may not be

Viper79, do you mean that although properly torqued, the bolts on the recently replaced hub won't break loose or is this on the old hub?
You can spray the bolts from the back with some PBBlaster or Kroil , let it sit for hours (or a day) and see if that does the trick.
Using a breaker bar, slip a length of steel pipe over it, then step on it, carefully bounce on it if need be.
If you're using a propane torch to heat the bolts, it's unlikely they'll get hot enough.
MAPP gas or another gas that burns hotter than propane is needed.
Worse comes to worst, you'll have to pay a mechanic to wrest with it----or you can replace the entire "knuckle", since the bolts are unlikely to be stuck inside the hub.

As for the noise....
Your noise could be the same hub or another or a tire.

To isolate the hub as the problem, chock the front wheels and lift the rear wheels, parking brake off. (I shouldn't need to say that the vehicle is not supported by a jack alone.)
You or a helper should spin each wheel as quickly as possible and feel the fender for vibration while listening for noise and watching the wheel for abnormal movement.
Very often a bad bearing in a hub produces enough vibration to actually feel it in the nearest fender.
You may also be able to rock the wheel in and out--but that can also be a suspension part gone bad.

If this fails to isolate the offending wheel, then have someone else drive the car while you ride in the back seat.
This should make it much clearer as to whether it's the driver's or passenger's side or front/back.

If your tire is worn abnormally or defective, it could cause noise, while some tires are just plain noisy (like the Fuzion tires that my 93 came to me with).
An out of round tire or a tire that has developed a slipped belt, will look like it is bobbing up and down a bit, rather than spinning normally and will cause vibration and sometimes noise.
Tires with certain kinds of abnormal tread wear can be noisy, too.
If you've isolated it to one wheel and have different brand tires on the front, temporarily move the front tire to the back and see if that moves the noise.

I have seen that and encountered that when I put different studs on for my brembos. I had broken one of the studs during a test fit, before I got the longer studs. (Had to actually drill one of the hubs to fit the longer ones.) The part number that comes up is for the smaller diameter. I have the part number for the correct larger diameter somewhere but it only took a couple minutes to match it up at the store and find the right number.

haro1225 wrote:I have seen that and encountered that when I put different studs on for my brembos. I had broken one of the studs during a test fit, before I got the longer studs. (Had to actually drill one of the hubs to fit the longer ones.) The part number that comes up is for the smaller diameter. I have the part number for the correct larger diameter somewhere but it only took a couple minutes to match it up at the store and find the right number.

I had tried 5 different high volume parts stores near NYC, to no avail for the Timken Korean hub stud.
It was some really unusual size that no one was able to match up.
The Timken stud was a smaller diameter than the OEMs, IIRC.

Going to the mechanic on Wednesday of next week. Needs new calipers on both sides. They are original factory from 2000. I am afraid he might have to replace the knuckle. I have heard Timkin has a fail rate the same, but "it's how you drive". This is my work car.

Could it be the Duralast? Yep. But we shall see. I would replace them all but, I don't have time since massive OT hit my work.

I will relay my findings from the mechanic. I thank you all!