Bad front end noise
 

I've been helping my father in law try to track down an issue he is having with his 07 Prius. He has some very odd front end noise. I figured it was a bearing as that is not uncommon on these cars. However, it doesn't appear to be that after some messing around. He has had this issue for a while and he recently replaced the inner tie rod on it, and we did a rough alignment (tape measure on the front and back of the tire). He used to have noise when turning. However, after we aligned it today, the noise is very pronounced as you go straight forward, but goes away as you turn (either way). It doesn't sound like a grinding noise, it sounds more like a vibration / rubbing noise. Its quite odd. This is a horrible explanation, but I haven't worked with it that much at all. I'm looking for some ideas on what to check out. Thanks guys!

Just some ideas: irregular tire wear, CV joints? You say it's not the wheel bearings though?

Is the brake disk warmer than it should be after a drive?

What type of rubbing noise? Metallic?

I've had corrosion on a brake rotor backing plate that just touches the rotor or not depending on which way you're turning.

Hub bearing unit? That sounds like a hub bearing.

All the wheel bearing I've had to replace I could change the frequency while turning at hwy speeds, figuring out which one is a little tougher. Sure fire way is jack up one front tire, start the engine and get that tire spinning, then try the other, haven't tried with a car with TC, just replaced both since if one was the bad the other isn't that far behind. I did ebay bearings on my cobalt, 12,000 miles later had to replace it again, went with Moog after that.

First, try to eliminate tires as a source. Rotate them and see if anything changes. If it doesn't, then you know its not them.

My vote is CV joints.

A simple test for wheel bearing failure:

1. Jack front of vehicle up so both wheels are off te ground
2. Start at drivers side and put one hand on the coil spring. With the other spin the wheel FORWARD.
3. Use your hand on the spring to feel for vibration while making sure not to touch the wheel while spinning so it doesn't cause a false vibration. - might be easier to put the car in neutral.
4. Do the same to the passenger side. Whichever one has the noticeable rumbling is the bad one.

That text comes from this thread I had 6 years ago when I had a failure with noise kinda like yours: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post362834

Good question. It does not sound metallic, it seems more rubberish, but I can't say that with certainty.