Got a new driveshaft put in .. Fixed the bad wheel bearing in the back passenger side wheel ..

Little history first. A few months ago, I got hit in that tire by a Tiburon. Little bit of a bent suspension, that bad wheel bearing was the only thing they didn't fix. I'm not sure if the rim is bent, it might be, but it's not noticeable at all, driving or cosmetically or anything.

Okay, so when I got all this crap fixed yesterday, they were SUPPOSED to rotate all the tires, so when I get in and hear a hum from my front driver's tire, I start wondering if the rim IS bent. Too dark to see that night .. The rim that got hit has green paint on it from the Tib. Couldn't see anything in the dark so I let it be .. Went out this morning, and that rim is still back where it was, meaning they DIDN'T rotate them, so what in the hell is this noise in my driver's wheel?

Worst case scenario I'm guessing is another bad wheel bearing, but it didn't make that noise before I took it in. They put new brake pads and rotors on the front ..

Seems like everytime I take this thing to get fixed, something breaks while it's NOT EVEN ON THE ROAD.

Thanks in advance.

i say its time to goto a new shop

Before going to a new shop, can't you claim some kind of warranty?

BTW Nice signature!!

when you say drive shaft do you mean CV joint? cuz fwd cars dont have drive shafts....do they ?

Thanks Alex.

Funny thing is, this is my dad's shop, with his employees. He owns and runs a freight business, and the guys there frequently work on employees' cars as well as the regular workload of trucks that need repair and such. I know a few of them personally, and I worked there for awhile. This might have been something beyond their control, but I really need to just know why it's making this noise and what I need to fix. I might have had a week to grow unaccustomed to my car, but I know for SURE it was NOT making that noise when I dropped it off there.

There's a tiny bit of vibration when I turn left, I noticed coming home today. I'll probably just take it in sometime this week and get them to check the bearing. Just need to be pointed in the general direction of what I'm doing, because to be honest, I probably still know jacksquat about this car.

Driveshaft, half shaft, whatever else, I was told so many names for it, but whatever it was, it was broken all the same. A crucial part that needs repair can be called Petunia for all I care, as long as it gets fixed appropriately so myself and the other drivers on the road aren't at risk due to mechanical failure that could have been prevented.

Yes FWD cars have driveshafts. Two of them to be precise. They are usually refered to as half shafts. RWD cars are usually refered to as prop shaft. CV joints are used on FWD set ups vice U joints because you can get a wider range of motion out of the CV then the UJ.

What's your take on it Herc? Think they might've done something (or not done something LOL) when replacing the shafts?

Since the bad wheel bearing I had was way back in the rear tire, I never had the chance to hear it closer, and this hum in the front is similar, but I don't have the ability or the experience to compare them very well.

this kinda thing is so hard to troubleshoot without actually hearing whats going on...maybe the guys there missed something on the install...I'm not knocking your Dads place and I sure dont blame you for going there...but its possible they might lack a certain GM knowledge for this application...if it wasnt doing it before the repair, I'd have to take it straight back and ask them to have another look at what they did...it could easy be an honest mistake and a simple fix...or not...lets hope for the first option.

Difficult to say but it is possible that your front wheel bearing were already headed south before installing the new half shafts,but I would definatly have the damaged rim checked if ite bent the vibration could cause bad handling and such.Chico.

That would be my guess. Both mine failed about a year apart from each other. I doubt they damaged it when they fixed the drive shaft. Those bearing housings are pretty stout. I know I cut one up.

Thanks guys.

I'm starting to wonder if they even replaced both driveshafts. So don't worry about knocking the shop, T-bat, my dad did his fair share of that already this week. Lol. I went in Wednesday, and the shop supervisor wasn't even there that day .. Looks like I'll be with an ailing car this weekend, or without one yet again.

The noise is somewhat hard to describe .. It's not really audible at speeds below 45. Once you approach 60, it's in your face. Even with the exhaust I have, it's easy to hear. The best comparison I can make is, remember sticking baseball cards in your bicycle spokes? How it was a steady sound but vibrated none the less? It slows down and speeds up according to RPM. When slowing down to almost nothing from, eh .. 65 or so, once it starts approaching 1k RPM it's almost identical to my exhaust drone. Horrible comparison, I'm sure, but that's all I can come up with. Blah. This all sounds weird as hell. The handling isn't near what it was when I took it in .. It's freaking crap, to be blunt. Like the car wants to resist what I'm trying to make it do.

I'll go early tomorrow .. Ask the shop if they replaced both shafts with new ones, get them to check that rear rim, and have ALL of the remaining bearings checked. Cause I swear if I get it back this time and something's still wrong with it, I'm going to lose my mind. I've never had this many problems with this car, ever.

The red car possession is trying to take hold.

Have one of the mechanics take it for a test drive (since they obviosly did'nt after repairs)any mechanic worth his oats should be able to pinpoint the problem, if not I own an apartment complex in Gatesville and am up there just about every week and would be glad to take a look.Chico.

Thanks for the offer, Chico, I'll probably take you up on it after what happened today.

Took it in, got the bearings replaced, whole hub and everything. They called me, said it wasn't making any noise, they took it for a test drive. Before I left it there, I took it out with one of the guys and showed him what I thought was wrong, let him listen to it, etc.

I got it back this afternoon after work, thinking everything was fine. Everything was until I got it onto the interstate and got it up to 60+, then returned the dreaded hum .. Of course, I'm pissed as all hell. I got home and talked to my dad about it, but he's not exactly the easiest person to get along with for the past few months, so you can imagine how that went. He's currently out having dinner with the rest of my family; he took my car so he can see what it's doing. He says it's the tire, which I think is a bit farfetched. I've had a pretty run down tire on there before, in the same place, and it never made that noise. One of the guys at the shop mentioned the CV boots that go along with the driveshafts.

I don't think they ended up checking those. My dad didn't listen when I mentioned it. Hopefully he'll listen when he gets back or I think I'm going to lose my cool.

The boot itself shouldn't be making a noise. If anything, the joints within it. Have you got stuff to remove the wheel yourself? If so, swap the left and right and see what happens from there. Might be an out of balance tire (I don't believe I saw that mentioned here). Depending on where the wheel weight was, it could have gotten knocked off. I'd also eyeball your tie rod ends and make sure everything is tight.

WOO.

Went and got a pair of Bridgestone Potenza G009 this morning, noise is gone. I guess somehow my old tire got screwed up during all the front end work that was done on the car last week. There's still vibration at high speeds, and the steering's still whacked out, but I'm getting an alignment tomorrow morning, so that'll probably fix it.

While my dad was out last night, I came across an old post on ClubGP that a guy had posted about the same noise I was having. Few posts done, someone told him to check tires FIRST, as they spent a crapload of money trying to fix the noise and it just ended up being their tires.

I don't know what happened to the old tire for it to make that noise. It hadn't been driven, so the only thing I can think of is that it got messed up somehow while they were putting the new driveshafts in and stuff.

Did you have the rim rebalanced before buying the new tire? Otherwise, they rebalanced it when they installed the new tire and it still wouldn't have been your old one causing the problem. Food for though.

Also, don't be surprised if you have to buy some new tie rod ends when you get it aligned. Might be a good idea anyway.