Road Noise
 

Got a 2004 Mazda 3 S with 17" wheels. Been having horrible road noise and thought it was my tires. Had the YK520s on and just replaced with BF g-sport A/S...still terrible road noise. Could it be bad wheel bearings? Has anyone had this problem? Has anyone replaced wheel bearings? If so, where is a good place to get the bearings? Any info would be great.

JR

I had that road noise a while back,thinking it was a wheel bearing, I took it into the dealer.
They replaced what they said was the faulty bearing.
The road noise was the same, it hadn't changed
This time they said it was the tires, not a bearing.
I still felt it was a bearing.
Soon after, I jacked the car up to get the front wheels off the ground.
Put the car in gear and listened.
Quiet as a mouse, which ruled out a faulty wheel bearing.
It was the tires.
I rotated them. and the noise was much less.
I need to replace my badyears as they are the source of the noise.
Trouble is, they were new when I bought the car last year, and they still show no signs of wear.
I have to wait until they are worn alot more before taking them off the car.
By the way, the yokos,from what I read are a great tire with much less noise than the badyears.
When the time comes to get new tires, I am going with the yokos 520.
Before taking your car in for maybe some unnecessary repair, do as I did, and take ten minutes to see if it is a bearing.
If it is, once raised off the ground, and put in gear, you will hear that grinding noise as you accelerate. if it is a bearing.
Bob.

I have an 05 s with the 17's also. Road noise is one of the complaints about this car, also a "small" trunk. I don't think the trunk is small, but that's what critics say. The most quiet my car has been is with Nokian tires. I still have them on but there has been a decent amount of wear, and now they're getting noisey. The tires are "true" all season tires. They look like snow tires, but they are all season tires. They perform real well in the snow and in the rain. The dry handling isn't as precise as a summer tire, but they still handle. They also made the ride softer. They cost a minuscule (sarcasm) $186 USD/ tire. If you live in a warm weather climate, these are NOT worth it. If you live in a snowy climate and dont have space to store winter tires, then they are worth it. I miss summer tires and will just get a set of snow and summer tires. It will come out to be cheaper in the long run anyway. The road noise won't really go away unless you insulate your car more.

I had that problem. Replace your tires, get a wheel alignment and balance.

Same happend to me in March. Drove to Flordia and back. On way back, tires started to sound like a small prop airplane. I suspected wheel bearings as well. Turns out, my factory Toyo's were toast. Down to wear bars. The 5000 kilometre round trip killed'em. Only 50,000 on car, and I've run winters since new. Soon as I put on new tires, quiet as can be.

Anybody know where to get front wheel bearing for Mazda 3?

I would think any autoparts store would have them, but unless you are a trained mechanic with the proper tools to do this job, you might as well take it to the dealer.
They are a lot more complicated than the bearings on the older cars.
They also need to be pressed,and unless you own one,you can't do the job.
This is strickly a job for the dealer.
Bob.