sounds like snow tires on the front....
 

hi guys,

i am experiencing a road noise that seems to be coming from the front of my 1990 560SEC.

It sounds like if you had put snow tires on the front of your car/truck.

I thought it might be the tire itself, so I rotated the tires., but the sound is still up front.

I am thinking wheel bearing, or because a sound can really transmit through a chasis and can be hard to pinpoint.., maybe carrier bearing on the driveshaft ?

It doesn't seem to change in volume or pitch when I turn., and if I take the transmission out of gear while rolling, it is still there.

Does it at all speeds.., does not seem to get much louder with higher speeds.

any ideas out there ?

thanks,
kevin

Kevin,

Had a similar problem once that turned out to be a front wheel bearing, it was very hard to try to pinpoint where this noise was coming from and I eventually lifted the front end and spun a front wheel with one hand with my fingers of the other hand on the front strut and I could actually feel a slight vibration in the strut of the offending wheel bearing. Replaced the bearing on that wheel and the noise was gone and then replaced the other front wheel bearing just in case.

Might be worth a try to see if you can feel any vibration at the strut.

Vincent.