Help - Camry drivetrain noise

[Kyzrsoze]

Wife's 2010 Camry has 95K miles (we bought new). About a month ago I started hearing a noise from the drivetrain (not engine) that sounds similar to a bad bearing. It starts at about 15 mph and gets faster (but not louder) as car speed increases, up to the point where road noise drowns out the bearing(?) noise. Several people (2 were mechanics) rode in it and I'm the only one who heard the noise. So I raised the front wheels off the ground, put auto trans in neutral and turned the wheels. No noise from just spinning the wheels but if I roll the wheels back and forth a few inches there is a clunking sound like a slack u-joint. The right side is a little louder than the left. No slack in the wheel bearings that I can detect. I'm an old school RWD shadetree mechanic. Is this a CV joint going out? BTW we just put new tires on and the noise is the same before and after. Thanks for any advice.

Just in case you didn't try this, to check the wheel bearing - with the front wheels off the ground, check for play by grasping the wheel on the top and bottom and rocking it on the vertical axis.

 

[WildBillHimself]

The noise doesn't speed up with the engine, just with road speed. I'm leaning toward a bearing problem, not CV joint because the noise does not change when going around corners or circles. The good news/bad news is that the noise is now loud enough for my wife to hear it!

 

[H2O MAN]

Check the tires... a bad belt in the tire can cause this noise / feeling.

 

[AngryJesus]

Wheel bearings would be the first thing I checked. Are you seeing uneven wear or accelerated wear on either of the front brake pads? Could be a carrier bearing if this car has an intermediate shaft also, but I doubt it.

 

[WildBillHimself]

Got it fixed. A wheel bearing. Thanks for your help.