I have a 2011 that has gotten worse and worse road noise over the last year. To me, it sounds like it's coming from the rear of the vehicle. It sounds like very sticky snow tires, a whirring or humming noise that gets louder the faster you go. It started a bit after I put on new defenders on the rear, so after about a year of driving with them on and it getting worse, I thought it was the tires wearing oddly. I got a loaner set of wheels and tires from a friend with another prius. Put them on, and unfortunately the road noise is still there. Those same wheels on my friend's prius were quiet. So I believe that rules out tire noise. Could it be wheel bearings? I'm trying to think of everything that spins back there and it isn't much. Tires, wheels, wheel bearing, rotors and that's really it.
How many miles on the Prius? More than about 150,000? You can remove the wheels, then the calipers. DO NOT OPEN THE DRIVERS DOOR!!! And move the key fob 30 feet or so away from the car. Then spin the hub with the wheel stud. Does it feel rough Maybe put the wheel back on with 2 lug nuts to spin the wheel. Listen to the hub. You'll know if it's bad.
How many miles on it? Any history of wheel bearing replacements? Your experiment with swapping out the tires is very telling. Rear wheel bearings would be at the top of my list.
295k miles on my 2011, no idea the history of any wheel bearing replacements. I know for certain nothing has been changed since I got the car at 220k. Tire wear looks normal, no cupping or feathering or shoulder wear.
Wheel_bearings on these cars don’t get loose or wobble but they do get loud. Typically you can hear them loudest around 45-55mph. After that road noise tends to drown them out. You probably have one bad bearing but must change the whole hub and abs speed sensor. On the back it’s relatively easy. However there are many low cost hubs that won’t last a year, unlike your oem_parts that made 13 years. Spend the money on Timken or OEM bearings and shop as prices at online Toyota dealers vary widely and some discounts don’t appear until you place a part in the cart. Timkens are more widely available. OEM vs Timken look identical - Prius v part numbers
Hmm, good to know. I would have gone around shaking all the wheels looking for play. But if they don't really do that, and just get loud, I may just have to replace them both and see what happens.
Don't get cheap ones! You'll be replacing them every 2-3000 miles. Less when the sensors fail. I've used Moog from autozone, and have over 100,000 miles on them They no longer carry them, but discount auto does.
