Suspension/wheel noise

[Steven9233]

I have a strange issue with my IS250  which I wonder if anyone has an opinion on .

on smooth quiet road surfaces I can hear a thumping type droning sound “I think from front “ I’ve noticed it before but only on very smooth good quality roads allowing the noise to become detectable . It has now definitely got worse . It is in relation to speed so the faster I go as does the sound best way I can describe it is as mmm mmm mmm as wheels rotate ,  I completed an experiment today and found that on slight turning left round corners the sound gets worse ! And when turning slight right round a bend the sound disappears ! The sound is not detectable at slow speed , the tyres are literally only a couple of months old on all four corners and are a high quality brand,  and this noise was present before the new tyres ! The brakes are perfect tracking and alignment is perfect , car is meticulously maintained and is on 56k. It does have the 18” Lexus wheels - I’m thinking wheel hub bearings ?  But at 56k ?? This wouldn’t make sense to me , had 9 Hondas over the years never had a bulb let alone bearings . 
suspension is all good no play in anything which is why I can only think front wheel bearings ? Any thoughts much appreciated before I order them. 
what else could it be ! 

Thanks in advance 

 

[ColinBarber]

Potentially the tyre but is does seem to be the wheel bearing from your description. 

[Steven9233]

Just spent half hour trolling YouTube whilst kids in ball pit zone “living the dream” I’m going to order a set of front hub bearings , I quite enjoy working on car if its relatively Simple which it looks to be replacing front  bearings . I will post results with any significant findings . Won’t get round to this for a couple of weeks yet . Just hope if it is bearings it’s the front not back ! My basic logic is suggesting the fronts are under more stress due to steering forces , so I’m assuming it will be less likely to be rears . I have a memory of the 4th and 5th gen Honda preludes both of which  I owned back in the day suffered from premature wheel bearing failures if fitted with the bigger wheel sizes ! Mine were fine , but as stated my Lexus has the bigger wheels I wonder if this has contributed to worn bearings at 56k ? Assuming that’s what it is - we will see . 

[ColinBarber]

jack up the car, spin the wheels and check for play - comparing one side to the other should allow you to determine if a bearing is noisy, and which one. 

[Steven9233]

Ahh good shout 

[GMB]

Maybe an idea while you are at it to check for anything stuck between the disk and the internal weather guard. I got a stone caught in mine this week  - made a helluva din until I got it out. More of a scraping noise than a rumbling bearing.

[Steven9233]

Jacked car up , spun every single wheel , no noise detected at all ! Maybe as it’s not under load ? I’m still thinking must be wheel bearing , would anyone agree likely front as when steering round left shallow bend the noise gets worse ? I’ve looked at everything underneath all looks good no play in wheels either . 

[Spock66]

Yes that's the classic symptoms of a wheel bearing on the way out.

I doubt you would get any significant noise unless they are completely toast.

[Steven9233]

Thank you spock66 , well I’ll fit the two front to be safe in next couple weeks when I get a chance . Just hope it’s the front , the back ones look far more of a pain to fit . but hey ho , if not it’s not mega money wasted just annoying . I’ll be sure to post my findings thanks again all 

[Steven9233]

Fitted the new drivers side wheel bearing today , I refrained from making a step by step , many YouTube vids from better DIY mechanics than me hence how I knew how to do it , made a quick vid of findings . Getting old one of is not easy let me tell you , had to beat the hell out of it 

 

 

[Steven9233]

I replaced the suspect bearing , and test drove to see if that fixed the issue which it did . I ordered two , thus I now have a spare in case the other one fails. 
Wasn’t in the mood to do the other side when in reality it’s probably just fine 

[J Henderson]

Yeah, the two opposing surfaces (aluminium & steel) bond together pretty good over time.

I got a garage to replace mine. First one went in 2021, then the other side lasted until 2023.