My 07 Equinox has close to 100k miles and I just returned from a 800 mile round trip to visit relatives for the holidays. About 60 miles from home I started to notice a small humming sound coming from the front of the vehicle. At first I thought the sound was coming from vehicles nearby. Not the case. The noise was coming from the car (not sure which side) and It started with a low hum and and then increased as I went from 30 - 60 mph. The noise increased in pitch as the car accelerated. It wounds like a tire issue (maybe not balanced or tread not evenly wearing), but then I second guessed that as the sound didn't depend on turning the wheel. Now I'm going to have to bring it in to have it checked out. The check engine light hasn't turned on.

I have a GM dealership that I usually go to but hoping this can be better addressed at a local shop. Any ideas here would be helpful.

 

if its a growl sound...it could be a worn wheel bearing or irregularly worn tires.

 

It is a low growl and then the pitch increases as the speed does. I'll be getting it checked next week.

 

This definitely sounds like a bad front wheel bearing. With only 100k miles on the vehicle, those are probably still the factory-installed bearings. You don't need to replace both of them. Find out which one is bad and only replace that one. You might get another 50k miles out of the other one.

 

You're correct. It ended up being the driver's side front wheel bearing that needed to be replaced. The hub and assembly (and a few corroded bolts) had to be replaced. Cost $300 for OEM wheel bearing and and another $200 for labor.