Greetings Lexus community, now I have this Lexus at 30k miles and I hear an intermediate humming noise between 65-75 mph. It certainly sounds like a bad wheel bearing, but contrary, it can be heard only within this speed regime and it starts from a slow rhythm to a faster one as I accelerate through 65-75. Letting the foot of the gas does not affect the sound, neither acceleration nor braking. It seems coming from the rear left, and interestingly sound goes away as I steer right. I appreciate all the comments, and have a safe drive!

 

It sounds like a wheel bearing since the noise stops when you steer the vehicle in one direction...the noise should get louder when you steer it to the left.

 

When I steer to the left, noise doesn’t change at all or at least I can say there’s no noticeable difference. Interestingly noise level stays same, but repetition significantly increases. It’s stay like 120 bpm and increases to 140-150 bpm as I accelerate through 65-75 mph.

 

I would say start with the wheel bearing and go from there...obviously it seems to be an issue.

 

Make sure it's not tires. Check the inner shoulder wear pattern of all tires. These cars have a rep for abnormal quick wear due to the suspension set up. Check to make sure tire/wheels are balanced as well.

 

Good suggestion to check the tires.
Cupping or feathering of the tires can simulate a noise similar to a bad wheel bearing.
Shoulder wear (once even) and balance won't cause a noise.

 

hey Sas, I’ve got a sort of grinding noise when I make slow, locked out turns... mechanic looked and said he thinks it’s the “backing plate” for the brakes and not to worry. Sound is annoying as hell, anyway to “fix” it?

 

The backing plates would make more of a scraping noise...trust me, it will drive you nuts! And not necessarily at full lock.
The easiest thing is to just push the backing plate backwards away from the rotor...just go around the circumference of the backing plate...you can use a long screwdriver or pry bar right through the spokes of the rim.

Because the rubbing is at full lock, makes me think the tire is touching the fender liner.
Have you checked the center line of the fender liner to see if there is rubbing marks? Mine used to do it with my 20's cause the wheel circumference was that much bigger. Also spacers can cause it too, as it changes the turning angle of the wheel in relation to the fender liner, especially when lowered.

 

Will check next time I drive, so literally I can just bend it back into place, or deal with it since it’s only at very slow speeds and wheel turned a lot. Thx!

 

Yes...you can just bend it back into place.
Usually it only gets out of shape when the wheels are taken off and/or you've had brake work done...and something inadvertently contacts the backing plate to move it against the rotor.
If it's just happened randomly then it's likely not the backing plate.

 

I’m almost sure it’s a bad wheel bearing, here comes why:
- checked for any visual defects
- removed all tires, corrected any balance issues on a balancer
- installed left wheels to right and vice versa

I still hear the noise, not noticeable enough, but there. My car is 2016 and roughly at 30k miles, isn’t it too early to have such an issue? Would hitting a road pit at 75mph be enough to ruin the bearing..? Big unfortunate.

 

My car is 2016 and roughly at 30k miles, isn’t it too early to have such an issue? While it may be early for something like this to occur, really wheel bearings go due to impacts...so you could drive a new car off the lot and hit a horrendous pothole and the wheel bearing is now noisy.
Would hitting a curve at 75mph be enough to ruin the bearing..? LOL! Holy cow...I'm assuming you mean 'curb'...I'd be surprised if you didn't lose the wheel and/or die!

 

What model of tire are you running? I had a similar noise with my BFGoodrich's, and have heard of the Michelin PS A/S 3+ having this noise as well. If it's one of these tires it's probably normal.

 

I’ve recently bought Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 ROF and only have driven ~2k miles.

I hear the noise only from the left rear, how about you?

 

When I had my car I always perceived it as coming from the front, but it could have very well been all the tires. They always made the noise even when new.

In this case, I am a little confused. The way you're describing the noise, my first thought wouldn't be wheel bearings. However, if it's most definitely just one wheel/tire, that sounds more like a tire or wheel issue on that one corner. I wonder if replacing the wheel bearing pre-emptively would be overkill/too expensive not knowing for sure if it's the issue.

If it helps, I have a friend who had a wheel bearing replaced on his IS 350 even though he had less than 30k miles. Not sure if it was due to damage.