2010 Prius, 180k - Help! Increasing loud road noise since putting 2 new tires

Recently I had a credit for Sears so I took a chance on installing 2 new 3 season continental tires.

Ever since, I’ve had noticeably louder road noise from the back end where the tires are. At first I just thought it was the new tires but it’s getting louder to the point where people are commenting it sounds like being on a roller coaster or as if something is rubbing on the plastic frame of the car.

I checked it out and didn’t see anything obvious. Does anyone have any ideas of ways I could check it out before going into the shop?

I noticed another post with the same issue, interestingly he also went to Sears auto.

Many advised it may be a wheel bearing. Is it possible/likely they messed something up during the tire change? I didn’t there was much in the way they could mess up mounting 2 new tires.. It does have 180k on it so it certainly could be a normal wear.

Is there any way to test or see if it’s a wheel bearing or something else? Is it unsafe to drive if it is one that is going? Any advice on how to replace the broken parts in a less expensive way while maintaining quality?

Thanks for any advice!

 

I put down the windows and drove in a parking lot on a smooth surface and didn’t hear anything. It gets worse at highway speeds above 25mph. I did not notice it getting worse changing lanes or cornering.

It starts as a faint ‘wub wub wub then develops into an RRrRrRRR that comes from the rear cabin. My Dad thought it sounded like I had snow tires with cleats or something similar. Thanks again for any help

 

I was mistaken, the tires are CooperTires CS3 Touring

 

Apologies, the tires are not Continental as I wrote, they are Cooper CS3

 

Thanks guys, the rear passenger wheel bearing was completely shot.