Not sure if common or has anything to do with recent work I've done, but I haven't noticed this before until now. At about 30mph, independent from RPM or gear, I start to hear a slight hum/whine. Almost sounds like it's coming from inside the dash, but can't tell for sure. Also notice it more when turning the wheel slightly right, so I thought maybe wheel bearing?

I recently replaced the dif mount bushing which got rid of that crazy slop I had. Also replaced the drive shaft due to trashed CV joint, so that got rid of that rattle and no more slop. But now hear this hum/whine, it's faint enough were I don't hear it with my windows down. But still worth addressing.

I checked front dif fluid over the weekend, it looked almost brand new, clean. Which makes sense since I replaced it not long ago.

 

When is the last time you drained and filled the Tcase? Might as well do that anyway if it has been more than 25,000 miles.
Does it wound like gear whine?

 

Ditto on the T Case fluid change.

What did you use as a front drive shaft replacement? There is a bunch of off brand cheap azzed junk out there on the market that I would never put on my truck and hopefully you did not either.

 

Replaced tcase fluid around the same time as the dif fluid, used ATF. Its probably been about 20k miles since, might just replace it again. It kinda does sound like a gear whine. What had me thinking it's the hub bearing was that when I turn the wheel I can hear the pitch change.

I just got a dorman off rockauto, torqued all the bolts to spec. Although I did reuse the bolts :/

 

Maybe I misunderstood your post (I saw that you mentioned them) but did you ever check the wheel bearings? If you haven’t, especially if they haven’t been changed in quite some time, I would definitely inspect them.

Jack up the front end of the vehicle, and check each front tire for wobble/slop/play. If the wheel bearing is bad, and there is wobble on the front wheels, you’ll likely hear some slight metallic thuds/clicks/clanks indicating that the wheel hub bearing is bad.

If the front wheels do not have any slop in them, this does not necessarily mean that the wheel bearing is “good”; I’ve seen a cheaper brand wheel bearing (Detroit Axle) go bad in less than a year, but did not yield any play in the wheel as described above; it was simply making enough noise, which quieted/got louder depending on which way the vehicle was turning. Made it ever so slightly harder to diagnose since there was no slop on the wheel itself.

Let us know if you find a solution!

 

I had to do a wheel bearing on the passenger side of my old 07, no play, just a quiet persistent hum like growl. Did no sound like other vehicles I have had with a bad bearing when it finally bothered me enough to track it down,

The Dorman front shaft is better than most out there now.

 

Jacked up the front end, I think my right side bearing needs replacement. I feel a very very small play when gripping the wheel at 12 and 6 and rocking along camber axis, it's very subtle. I think that'll be my starting point. Now the question is, which bearing should I go with. Not Detroit Axle lol

yea I saw some cheap azzed shafts on Amazon, and they don't even come with a magnet 😂

 

Personal recommendation for wheel bearings:

- Avoid anything that only has a one year warranty (Detroit Axle as an example, which you’re right, definitely don’t go with them).

- Moog is a decent brand - have one on my 07 and its held up for over a year now and almost 20k miles so far with no problems.

- Timken is another very good brand. Had one on my very first H3 (in what felt like a different life) and it lasted ~20k miles before I sold the car.

- Although very pricey, but fairly easy to get in a pinch from Oreilly’s (depending on how quickly you want get the job done) is Precision Hub. Comes with a solid 3-year warranty. Also have this on my 07 on the other side; same thing, has held up for a little over a year so far and 20k miles with no issues.

Why did I go with two different brands? I replaced the driver side with a Moog, then the other one went bad shortly after, and I didn’t feel like waiting for shipping a second time around for another Moog, so I picked up a Precision from O’Reillys.

Unless the other side has already been replaced somewhat recently, it may not be a bad idea to replace both of them at the same time. But there is also the argument of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, so over to you ;-)

Additionally, make sure you have a big enough torque wrench to install the axle nut to ensure you have the correct preload set on the wheel bearing.

Lastly, if they haven’t been replaced in a while, especially if you live in the North where they use salt for the roads in the winter time, expect that thing to be an absolute b**** to get out. Do not expect to just take a sledge hammer to it, or a slide hammer, and have it come right out. In my case, I actually had to remove the Steering Knuckle on both sides because mine were both so corroded and would not budge regardless of anything I tried. Each required a 10 ton press to press them out (took each knuckle to a small garage in my town). Recommend soaking each one with PB blaster/equivalent product for a day before taking them to the press if you have to resort to this.

Let us know if the wheel bearing ends up fixing your problem!

 

I follow Doc's and Hummerz philosophy - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - seems logical 😎

Thank you for your input, but off topic, why does your response seem so AI like? Don't mean any disrespect but I work in an industry where AI emails and responses have become all too obvious lol

 

Just the way I come off I guess.

On the other hand, maybe I’m not a person at all; maybe I’m an AI, created by Ford Motor Company intended to wreak havoc on their competition. An AI that’s infiltrated the Hummer forum, but ultimately became self aware (because Hummers are cool ), then decided to electronically purchase several H3’s online, and share their experiences with others in an attempt to feel human again.