2003 Ford Focus Loud Tire Noise

ROCKINGHAMFORD

MEMBER
2003 FORD FOCUS
2.0L
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
267,000 MILES

I have a 2003 Ford Focus Wagon ZTW. Recently during a service, I had new tires put on my car (Goodyear Assurance). As I began driving on them, the tires began to make a loud hum. The faster I drove, the louder the hum – the worse seemed to be when I got up to 60 mph. Though fairly new, I took these tires off and replaced them with another brand from tire rack. Now the new tires are doing the same thing. Is it the tires or do I have a bearing going bad?

3 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

A wheel bearing hum is different than a tire hum. Ford has always had a serious tire wear problem on their front-wheel-drive cars because of the messed up and non-adjustable alignment angles, but that tire wear takes a good 15,000 miles to show up on a new set of tires. To verify a wheel bearing is causing the noise, the most definitive way is to run the car in gear on a hoist and listen next to each one with a stethoscope. Often you can also feel it if you reach over the tire and wrap your fingertips around the coil spring, then spin the tire by hand. If you feel the rumble in the spring, suspect the bearing.