First off, Hi guys...New here and have been looking over the site , very nice

Ok onto my question...I have a 2007 Mazda 3 2.3L with 45k miles on it. About 2k miles ago I started noticing a very loud humming noise coming from the front drivers side tire/wheel. This humming starts at about 20-25 mph and the volume tends to drop dramatically coming up on 70-75mph. When I turn right it gets louder, but when I turn left it goes away, almost completely. I have had a couple people tell me that it might be the wheel bearing, but wouldn't 45K miles be a little soon for a shot wheel bearing?

I have taken the wheel off and there is no play in the wheel and I see nothing that I can see where it could be rubbing on anything in the wheel well, and from what I can tell, the tread wear looks to be even.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance...

 

classic wheel bearing noise... steer and it comes & goes. 45k is way early though, they should last well over 2x that even on lower end vehicles (festiva etc...).

 

By this in referring to put on a rubber glove and slide your hand on the inside edge of the tire make sure tires not cupping very common on Mazda 3 those model years. Cupping: you will feel ups and downs on the tire instead of a flat round surface. This mostly happens when rear shocks are worn. Warning There is no visible sign on wear on shocks but does cause tires to start cupping and when rotated to the front make a very similar sound to a wheel bearing. Not saying it can’t be a bearing but I would check the tires first. Btw I’m certified Mazda tech I see this all the time.