Front End Humming

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GanderGirl89

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Have very loud humming noise in front end of '03 Grand Am - so loud it drowns out the radio. Doesn't matter what speed I am going, but the faster I go the louder it gets. Sounds somewhat rhythmic and is not consistent with speed. Also, noise when I am braking. Started noticing it after I got "new" used tires. Recently replaced tie rods and got an alignment, replaced brake pads and rotors this past August, and bearings the summer before. What would be causing this?
 
noise could be bearings or cv joints or shifted belt in the used tires. Brake noise could be stuck caliper.
 
Thank you for the advice! I lifted up the front end and tried wiggling my tires, but they were solid so I'm assuming its not the bearings (if that trick even works?). Next on the list is to rotate my tires to rule out any tire issues and am going to check brake pads/rotors/calipers while doing so. How do you check cv joints?
 
CV joints you can usually check in a somewhat empty parking lot. Drive one direction with wheel fully turned at a slow speed and listen for your noise, then drive in the opposite direction with wheel fully turned and listen again. If the noise is worse in this situation you have a bad CV joint. You can also visually check for any torn boots.
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Well, after replacing both front end CV joints, both brake calipers, miscellaneous parts that go along with those, inspecting both hub assemblies, rotating tires, experiencing some gear shifting issues while on the road and inquiring at two different auto body shops...we have narrowed it down to a bad bearing in my transmission. Definitely not what I was expecting, nor what I am prepared to pay for on top of the other 500 bucks I just spent. Anyone know anything about this issue? Would you have to take the whole transmission apart to get at the bearings or woulda it be better to just replace whole transmission?
 
Brought it into the shop and discovered that it is not a bearing, but the planetary differential. The pin was coming out due to loss of lubrication. Got it in in the nick of time, otherwise pin would have come out and wrecked the casing and who knows what else. Sadly, this is one of the most inner parts of the transmission so the whole thing had to be taken apart and rebuilt with upgrades. Ended up running me close to 2 grand, but well worth it considering it has practically a brand new tranny in it now and only 130,000 miles.
 
It is an automatic, which is what clued them in to it not being a bearing. I guess in manuals the bearings are larger and tend to go out more often than in the automatics.
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