'97 Town & Country road noise

If anyone has had this problem and solved it, I'd appreciate knowing how. I have a 97 T&C since it was new. For the last few years, there has been a growing road/tire noise in the passenger compartment. New tires did not really solve the problem, it simply changed the pitch of the noise somewhat. The volume has grown to the point that you just about can't hear the radio at anything lower than full volume. There has been no changes in the insulation around the cabin that might explain this. The noise is worse as you make turns, particularly left turns. Further the greater noise seems to come from the front passenger side. I have driven beside the van with windows down and can detect no unusual noise from the outside. It just seems to be in the passenger compartment. The only thing I can think of is some hardening or degradation of a bushing somewhere in the suspension (like possibly a busing in the front strut that isolates it from the frame) but the tires wear evenly, there is no vibration in the steering, and there is no pulling that I would think would accompany a suspension/steering problem.

Anyone have any ideas what might cause this?

Reply to
Al
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My guess would be a bad wheel bearing. The tip off on that is that it changes when turning. You don't hear it from the outside because the noise goes into and radiates from the frame into the passenger compartment. If the noise comes on or increases with left turns, the left front bearing is the most likely suspect.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Have you checked the wheel bearings ? The noise you describe seems to indicate bad wheel bearings.

Reply to
Mike

Thanks everyone for responding. I had never heard a wheel bearing sound like tire noise when it went bad but that was indeed the problem. Works great now.

Reply to
Al

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