2005 Corolla - thumping noise front end

Without hearing the sound, it is difficult to determine the source, but cars can make thumping sounds for several reasons. Possible causes are a an internal problem in the tire like a broken belt, bent wheel, bad wheel bearing, and bad constant velocity (CV) joint. The sound will always be related to vehicle speed rather than engine speed if one of those are the cause.

The easiest way to check whether the tire or the wheel is the cause of the sound is to mount the spare and see if it goes away.

Hey Ray,

Thanks for the reply, here's a little more info. I did replace each tire with the spare and took it for a ride, the noise did not change, I did this before I took it to Toyota for the wheel bearing change. Wonder if jacking the front end up and running through the gears would help determine the issue though how safe is this.

Ray O wrote:

Are you sure you don't have a bent wheel? It seems like you have had the same problem with two different sets of tires and that the problem first appeared after you had the tires replaced. I'd suggest jacking up the car and rotating the wheels to make sure they spin true. Is the noise always in the same place? If it is a front noise, did you check the CV joints?

Ed

Hey Ed, thanks for the reply, see below

Q: Are you sure you don't have a bent wheel? R: Maybe I do, I'm going back to the tire shop tomorrow to have them do a rebalance and check, would a rebalance detect this, wonder if the rim was bent when the tire was put on?

Q: It seems like you have had the same problem with two different sets of tires and that the problem first appeared after you had the tires replaced. R: Correct, problem first noticed after the first set of new tires put on and still there after the second set put on, defective tire twice would be slim right.

Q: I'd suggest jacking up the car and rotating the wheels to make sure they spin true. R: I did spin each wheel, aligning my eye with the wheel and a fixed object on the car, one seemed a little off. I've always swapped the tires front to back, maybe if I switch them from driver to passenger and the noise doesn't change then I can omit this as being a tire problem.

Q: Is the noise always in the same place? If it is a front noise, did you check the CV joints? R: Noise always appears to be in the front right, this is were toyota changed the wheel bearing. I didn't check the CV but wouldn't the CV be noisy when I turn the wheel?

C. E. White wrote:

I would not try running the car through the gears with the car up on a jack. This is very dangerous!

If swapping tires front to rear does not change the sound, then the tire and wheels become less likely causes.

The wheel bearing would be the next most likely cause, but since it was changed and the sound is still there, I'd check the constant velocity (CV) joints, rack ends/tie rods, and ball joints. This stuff should have been checked when the wheel bearing was replaced, but it's possible they were not checked.

Q: I would not try running the car through the gears with the car up on a jack. This is very dangerous! R: Gotcha, makes sense...

Q: If swapping tires front to rear does not change the sound, then the tire and wheels become less likely causes. R: Yeah, seems to makes sense, two sets of tires to be bad doesn't seem right. Though like you said, you would of thought toyota would of check the other area especially when they did an alignment.

Thanks again

If the dealership did an alignment, then they definitely should have checked the rack end/tie rods/ball joints.

The CV joint may or may not have been checked out.

A rebalance whould detect a bent wheel or defective tire.

Could have just been a coincidence, but I'd still be suspicious. Is the noise the same under power and when coasting?

Noises can be hard to diagnosis. It could be that the noise is transmitted into the car by the same path, no matter where it is actually generated. You mentioned you also had a vibration. Did that change when you swapped the wheels around? What do you mean when you say one of the wheels was a little off? The actaul metal wheel should not be a little off. Sometimes the tire sidewall is not completely true, although the tread surface should be.

Not necesarrily. It depends on what is wrong. Does the noise change when you turn the wheel?

Regards,

Ed White

I went back to the tire place and asked they they rebalance all tires and do another check for me before I bring it back to Toyota, they did, no problems detected, I believe I can rule out the tires.

Noise is the same, I have a standard, put the clutch in at 70mph and engine idling, noise is the same.

No change with a rotation, definitely something in the front end.

It's weird, it does change a little with a turn but not always. Seems to be heard the best at 40-45 mph I guess it has toyota stumped too since they're not sure where it is coming from. They changed the right front wheel bearing Monday, I had the wheels rebalanced on Weds morning and then back to toyota to take another look. The tech came out and took a ride with me, he could hear it, said he checked both bearing when he did the work on Monday but they don't always show a problem without a load on them. It seems like the sound is now coming from the left side, maybe the other bearing I said to him. He said toyota wont just let us change both bearing unless we are sure that is the problem. He then took out his manager that use to work on these cars, the manager came back in and told me all he heard was tire noise. I suspect what they are saying is they aren't going to fix it until it is louder and they can determine for sure what the problem is, what a pain... Appreciate all your advice.