2001 Buick LaSabre Drive Noise.

Almost certainly a wheel bearing.

Take it to a tech immediately. There are some other possibilities, but the wheel bearing is certainly a major one and the conequences of wheel bearing failure are so severe that I would not drive it until that has been ruled out.

Yes.

--scott

Could also be tires. Try to find a street that has changes in road surface, like concrete to asphalt. If the sound changes, it's tires. You can also run your hand around the tread - a bad tire will feel like it has a sawtooth surface. It's usually also easy to see.

The sound of a wheel bearing will almost always change when you swing the car from side to side. There's also a chance it's in the trans, and the sound won't change at all going side to side.

We can rule out tires (I think)...both front tires are smooth-no ridges (less than a year old). Driving over snow cover...you still hear the noise. There doesn't seem to be a change in the sound moving the wheel back- and-forth. (sure hope it's not the tranny! *L*) Thanks for your input on this.

No apparent noise when jacked-up and spinning at 30MPH (of course there is little to load the bearing-no weight).

Makes it seem like a wheel bearing, as several people have mentioned.

A bit more...going 30-40MPH...it makes less noise turning left than turning right (right is about the same as going straight). Definitely seems to be the driver's side (left, here in the US/Canada).

Left wheel bearing. Usually the rights go bad first.

It was too cold to do the job myself...cost me $300 for the better quality one and labor. Oh well, it's fixed!

Yay! Thanks for the update.