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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / October 2005Gradually increasing road noise '95 Toyota
I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). I had previous experience with road noise getting louder on Japanese cars around 10 years old. The noise doesn't change when turning, but it changes depending on road surface. The tires are relatively new (1.5 years old). I wonder if it may be related to some suspension rubber parts getting harder over time. Wheel bearings maybe? Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. In alt.autos.toyota drnwnr@hotmail.com wrote: > I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k > miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Wheel bearings maybe? > Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. Is it just wind/road noise? I replaced the door seals on my '94 before a cross country trip this summer. It made a huge difference in blocking out wind/road noise. However, it cost me ~$180. If I wasn't going to be driving 9k miles in a month I wouldn't have bothered. > I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k > miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Wheel bearings maybe? > Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. How are your tires? I know you say they're only a year and a half old, but how much tread do they have left? Are they wearing evenly? I've heard tell of some tires getting significantly noisier as they wear, especially if a slight misalignment is causing them to "feather" any. nate > How are your tires? I know you say they're only a year and a half old, > but how much tread do they have left? Are they wearing evenly? I've > heard tell of some tires getting significantly noisier as they wear, > especially if a slight misalignment is causing them to "feather" any. > > nate The tires have about 3/4 tread left. They don't seem to wear unevenly, except a bit more wear on the outer tread. I wonder why would new door seals make a big difference. The original ones don't seem to be torn or in a bad shape. >> How are your tires? I know you say they're only a year and a half old, >> but how much tread do they have left? Are they wearing evenly? I've [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I wonder why would new door seals make a big difference. > The original ones don't seem to be torn or in a bad shape. Run your hand over the tread surface. Is it smooth and even? > I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k > miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Wheel bearings maybe? > Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. You are probably correct about rubber parts wearing out and hardening. I've noticed the same thing with my vehicles. I usually replace them with stiff poly ones between 5-10 years. That just about doubles the road noise but helps the handling. > You are probably correct about rubber parts wearing out and hardening. > I've noticed the same thing with my vehicles. I usually replace them > with stiff poly ones between 5-10 years. That just about doubles the > road noise but helps the handling. What rubber parts should I change for a noticable improvement? > > You are probably correct about rubber parts wearing out and hardening. > > I've noticed the same thing with my vehicles. I usually replace them > > with stiff poly ones between 5-10 years. That just about doubles the > > road noise but helps the handling. > > What rubber parts should I change for a noticable improvement? All of them. >> You are probably correct about rubber parts wearing out and hardening. >> I've noticed the same thing with my vehicles. I usually replace them >> with stiff poly ones between 5-10 years. That just about doubles the >> road noise but helps the handling. >What rubber parts should I change for a noticable improvement? Control arm and sway bar bushings are common culprits. Check http://www.performancesuspension.com http://www.suspension.com > I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k > miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Wheel bearings maybe? > Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. Same thing happend to my wife's '95 Prizm (mechanically the same) about one and a half years ago. Worn struts caused the tires to start cupping and increased the road noise to the point that the radio had to be turned way up and the hands-free cell phone system was useless. > The noise doesn't change when turning, but it changes depending on > road surface. The tires are relatively new (1.5 years old). How about with speed fluxuations?  Signatureremove MYSHOES to email Older Corollas have fairly high road noise to begin with. The biggest noise problem I see with them other than inherent road noise is chopped rear tires. Some call the wear "cupping", but in a Corolla's case I would describe it as "diagonal" or "choppy" tread wear. Even if your rear suspension is aligned perfectly, this can happen to tires when not rotated frequently (no longer than 7500 miles between rotates IMO). Add in wheel misalignment and diagonal wear is compounded. The noise from this uneven tire wear is a low frequency drone that starts typically around 20 mph. If the tires are really bad you can hear them under 10 mph. The tread wear can be very slightly uneven and still cause excess noise at speed. At 80k miles it isn't very likely that you are experiencing suspension bushing failure. It is possible that a wheel bearing, esp. rear, is going bad -- but the fact that the noise doesn't change while turning would discourage that thought. Toyota MDT in MO > I'm getting a gradually increasing road noise on a '95 Corolla, 80k > miles. The noise is pretty anoying (can't hear the radio). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Wheel bearings maybe? > Any suggestion on how to fix this will be appreciated. > Older Corollas have fairly high road noise to begin with. The biggest > noise problem I see with them other than inherent road noise is chopped [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Toyota MDT in MO Bingo! > Older Corollas have fairly high road noise to begin with. The biggest > noise problem I see with them other than inherent road noise is chopped [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > rotated frequently (no longer than 7500 miles between rotates IMO). > Add in wheel misalignment and diagonal wear is compounded. Toyota aren't the only vehicles that do this. My sister had a '86 VW Jetta that did the same thing. If she did not rotate the tires regularly (and she didn't), the rear tires would develop a weird pattern like you described. It was like a series of diagonal bands spaced around the tire. The rear tires would get progressively nosier until it was unbearable - at which point she would show up at my house to have the tires rotated (for free- the most important part). When I put the rear tires on the front, the noise would move to the front. As she drove the car, the front tires would gradually become quieter but before they actually got back to round, the rear tires would be roaring again. It was a viscous cycle once she let the rear tires develop the bad pattern. I assume regular rotation (maybe very 4k miles) would have avoided the problem, but she never tried that. Ed > Toyota aren't the only vehicles that do this. They certainly aren't. I think diagonal wear has a lot to do with the light weight rear end, compliant bushings that deflect quite a bit in turns, and rear independent suspension. Any car with these attribites will likely wear the tires badly if not rotated. Alternately, you could have a perfectly normal car, install Goodyear Invicta GLs on it and experience the same fate regardless of preventative action. Too bad the Invicta isn't available anymore... > I assume regular rotation (maybe very 4k miles) > would have avoided the problem, but she never tried that. I do an oil change and rotate at 3k on all of our cars. It's on the plus side of anal, but my tires last >60k and my engines last past the useful life of the vehicle, all with hard driving. Toyota MDT in MO > I do an oil change and rotate at 3k on all of our cars. It's on the > plus side of anal, but my tires last >60k and my engines last past the > useful life of the vehicle, all with hard driving. I have my doubts that anal maintenance is cost effective. My sister does none of those things and she has yet to wear a car out. The Jetta came close. The transmission failed at 135K miles and I replaced it for her - I can't see where 3k oil changes would have helped that, or the repeated in tank fuel pump failures. 2 out of her other 3 cars ended up totaled in a wreck (after 60k-80k miles). The third, a '73 Pinto, ended up with me and then a friend's kids. Three of them never wore it out either. It was last seen heading away with yet another teenager - what a great car (no A/C though). My Sister's current '97 Honda Civic is well past 100k and is surviving on 7k oil changes and occasional new tires. As far as I am concerned it is ripe for dumping. It runs fine, but the paint is dull, the interior is starting to show its age, and I know who will be stuck with fixing it if something major breaks (I am thinking clutch). I am trying hard to break the 3K oil change habit. I honestly believe with modern cars and modern oils it is a waste of money. I don't consider myself particularly hard on cars, so I am at least going for the normal service intervals. My Saturn has an oil change indicator. I have yet to wait long enough to have it come on. Last time I was over 7000 miles when I finally gave in to my old oil change habits and changed the oil without waiting for the light. Out of curiosity, I sent a sample of the oil off for analysis. It came back as good (the results said I could have gone at least another 3k miles). So this time I am really really really going to wait for the light. On my farm, I never change the oil in the farm tractors more often that specified by the manufacturer. The two largest turbo-diesel tractors call for 150 hour oil changes. I figure this is equivalent to at least 5000 severe service miles. One of these tractors is 25 years old and has over 6000 hours on the engine. I figure this is equivalent to 210,000 miles of hard usage. The tractor runs fine, but is definitely showing it age in other ways (rust, leaking hydraulics, generally out of date design). If there was any money in farming, it would have been gone 5 years ago. I am sure that more anal maintenance would not have paid off. Ed |
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