Took car to tire shop for a tire humming noise. They said that the front right tire was probably causing the noise as a result of uneveninside and outside treadwear and suggested doing a front wheel alignment which they did. At my suggestion, they moved the more even wearing rear tires to the front. The noise still sounds like it is comming from the front after the alignment and tire rotation, but maybe it is coming from the back now. Furthermore, in the process of rotating the tires they showed me that the upper control arm rubber bushings were craked and reccomended replacing the upper control arms in the near future. They said it would be okay to drive the car from Los Angeles to Arizona and back without replacing the control arms. The tires are about 1-1/2 years old and have less then10,000 miles on them.

I can't really afford to replace the control arms right now and would like to do it in another 5,000 miles. Is it okay to wait?

The tire store said that I will continue to have the tire noise as long as I keep that uneven worn tire on the car. I believe the uneven worn tire is not that bad and can not possibly be making that much noise, but what do I know.I am thinking of putting my full size spare on to see if the noise goes away. If it does not go away, then I have another problem. Could the worn control arm rubber bushingscause the noise or could it be wheel bearings?

Buy the way, I replaced outer two tie rod ends at 48,622.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Simple if the noise moved and changes with the changes in the road surface then it the tires. If it didnt move and changes when you turn left to right at speed then its a wheel bearing.