Weird Woo-woo Sound

[Jeepers!]

Seriously... I know it sounds silly, but for the past few weeks my Jeep Liberty (2004 Sport) has been making a strange "woo-woo" sound. It's like a friction sound that I think is coming from under the car.

It doesn't happen ALL the time but when it does it will go on and on and then just stop, and it's not a squeak or squeal. It's not the brakes, those are relatively new and I don't think the rotors are warped as there is no vibration when stopping. It can't be heard when going more than 20mph or so and when it can be heard and I press lightly on the brake it stops.

I had my Jeep in for an oil change and inspection a couple weeks ago and I asked the technician about it. He drove it around the lot, heard it and said he had no idea but maybe it was the drive train? I don't know what that means.

If anyone can help, I just need some ideas on what it MIGHT be - I'm a single female and don't want to be taken by a shady mechanic when I bring it in to be diagnosed.

Thanks in advance and if you need more information from me to be able to speculate what it might be please just let me know!

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Does it do it even at low speeds, im thinking maybe hub bearings but its hard to tell without hearing it lol

 

[Jeepers!]

Does it do it even at low speeds, im thinking maybe hub bearings but its hard to tell without hearing it lol

Hi! Thank you for replying - and yeah, I know...very hard to tell without hearing.

I can only hear it when going under 20mph. I don't know why but maybe because of engine noise or faster rotation of the tires drowns it out at higher speeds?

Also, I do hear it every day, but not every single time I drive 20mph or less during the day. It's very intermittent. Not sure why there either.

I'm just afraid I'll bring it in and because I don't know any better someone will take advantage of me repairing things that don't need it. So I'm trying to avoid that situation if at all possible.

 

[dustin g]

Jack up the Jeep and get the tire up. Wiggle them in as many ways as you can. If a bearing is going out you will feel a touch or play. Definitely sounds like bearings. Will only get worse. Fronts aren't hard to do yourself but rear is a press fit.

 

[82CJ7JEEP]

If it is a front wheel bearing, when you hear the noise turn right and then left. If the noise goes away during one of the turns it will be that bearing. I.e noise is present- turn right, if noise goes away it will be left front bearing and vice versa for left turn. If you turn and noise does not go away could possibly be in rear. Do you feel any vibrations? Does it sound like noise is from front, rear, right, left???

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Ya it could be that the tire noise is drowning it out at high speeds if its a hub bearing but ya like Dustin said, jack it up so the wheels off the ground and just grab it and see if it wiggles around from top to bottom or side to side, if it does then ya the hub bearings probably are on their last leg and ya it'll just get worse. But no worries the front bearings are really easy to replace, and pretty cheap 2 lol

 

[Jeepers!]

Welp - brought it to a reliable mechanic this morning and it's not the bearings or u joints. He said it's tire noise (tires are less than 1 year old). Thanks to everyone who replied!

 

[lunghd]

The last time I had a wierd "woo woo" sound coming from my Jeep I ended up paying child support.

Do they still balance ok? Had a set of Dunlop AT's that balanced perfectly... but took 3 oz of weight to do it. They were ever so slightly out of round. If they had to really work the weights to get them balanced you might have reason to get those swapped out.

Check out the sidewalls for any weird deformation. It's wierd - AT tires have been hit or miss with a lot of the usual manufacturers. Steel belts popping, tread bubbles, sidewall deformation ... Most of the stories I've heard, and tires seen personally, were 99% street use with no off road abuse to speak of.

Did your tires have a warranty that will pro rate you some replacements?