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It sounds like i have mud tires

8K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  fordblue03 
#1 ·
i have a 2000 zx3 with the mtx-75. the humming has been developing over the last week and a half and its gradually gotten louder and louder to the point ive parked my car until i figure out what's going on. the best way i can think of to describe it is that it sounds like i have huge block tread mud tires on the focus. the pitch of the hum increases and decreases depending how fast im going and is always present whether the car is in in gear or in neutral, under heavy accelleration, light accelleration, light braking, heavy braking, it doesnt matter. ive had a few wheel bearings go bad so that was the first thing i checked when i first noticed it. they are fine. i have torsen LSD and im beginning to think that may have something to do with the sound. i also noticed a little over a month ago that i have developed a very slow transmission fluid leak. parked it over white concrete and it only ammounts to a drop on the ground every few days so i doubt thats relevant. tranny has less than 40k miles on it, LSD maby has 5000 miles on it. i also got a fidanza flywheel at the same time as the tranny and LSD. i just want this sound gone if it is due to something wearing out and going bad. ive never had LSD in a focus before so if the sound is natural thats fine. any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Did u actually check the fluid level in the tranny? That drop every few days could be what's left after a major leak somewhere....

long shot, but worth noting.
 
#4 ·
it might just be your tires wearing unevenly....mine are loud as **** and I can't wait to get new ones, but they have like 10000 miles left on them (unfortunately)
 
#5 ·
well the tires are definately worn unevenly. passenger side rear is nearly gone the other 3 have about 60% tread left. that is because of spinning just 1 tire at a time before i got LSD and rotating them directly after.
 
#7 ·
took it around the block awhile ago with a passenger laying in the back. the sound is coming from the rear. checked the wheel bearings in the rear again and they are still fine. everything back there looks good. changed wheels and tires back to the old stockers in the rear and went out again. the sound is still there.
 
#9 ·
the sound goes away in really hard turns but as soon as i straiten out and the car levels the sound comes back.
 
#11 ·
the tires arent cupped in the rear... the tread is worn evenly across the entire surface of every tire. the sound is still present when i put other wheels and tires on it. i put the old stock 15s back on with %95 good tread and still hear it, old ICW 16s with about 10% tread left and still hear it, new ADR 18s with 60% tread and its still there.
 
#12 ·
If you say it's not wheel bearings (#1) or tires (#2)... is your parking brake partially on? Do you have disks or drums?
 
#14 ·
i have drum brakes. e-brake all the way down and idiot light is off, no brake dust has built up on the rear wheels.

im pretty sure its coming from the rear. got it on a dyno earlier this week just to get it rolling and see where the sound was coming from because i was sure it was the LSD. front wheels only turning there is no sound. as soon as i pulled off and the rear wheels start turning the sound comes back.
 
#15 ·
Broken shoe then, or no return spring from the ebrake. Try taking the drums off and look in there.
 
#16 ·
Although I'm sure you've fixed this by now, i figure i shouldn't join and ask a question without giving something back :)

For anyone else having this problem, my personal experience with wheel bearings is that they are much harder to diagnose than you'd think... if there's play (looseness) in the bearing, they are bad, but no play != good bearing... After living with a groaning noise that sounded exactly as you described for almost 6mo, I did the rear wheel bearings on my RX7 (after having changed every other friggin bearing in the car :screwy:). I found that when I removed the hubs there was a teeny bit of a scraping noise when rotating, which sounded exactly like when you spin the wheels and the pads/shoes rub ever so slightly (hence me not noticing it the first 5 times around). Had the machine shop put new bearings in, and voila, noise was gone. In my case, the noise was much more/less prominent when turning left/right at higher speeds, but was so loud I couldn't tell if it was coming from the front or back!

Hope this helps someone searching the board... :thumbup:
Cheers,
Dan
 
#17 ·
For anyone else having this problem, my personal experience with wheel bearings is that they are much harder to diagnose than you'd think

Dan
Amen! I had a deafening roar inside my old Mystique to the point that people refused to ride in it with me. All the wheel bearings mechanically checked fine with no play. Replaced the passenger's front wheel bearing and silence ensued.
 
#18 ·
Just because the traditional check for play doesn't indicate the rear bearings are bad doesn't mean they aren't bad. Mine had no detectable free play, yet were really loud. A little advise, don't buy the cheap drum/bearings at Advanced Auto and the like. Someone on this forum recommended NAPA drums with pre-pressed in bearings. So far they are much quieter right out of the box (new vs. new) and appear to be of better quality than the ones from AA. Plus they are about the same price.
 
#22 ·
it turned out to be a bad wheel bearing if memory serves. go figure! geeze that was over 3 years ago. old dead thread
 
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