Give this a try.

Get in  a big parking lot somewhere, turn the steering wheel to the left
all the way to the stops , then drive the vehicle in a circle, steady at
first, then speeding up and slowing down. Go around two or three times.
Then reverse the circle. The loads imposed by this manuver will often
produce the classic "tock-tock-tock" of a ailing/failing CV, thus
clarifying the issue.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

mordo wrote:
> I've just completed 880 miles on my 90 Carat and almost all was
> well...except.
>
> Yesterday, driving around Corolla, NC the bus was running great and I was
> having a great time. Today, prior to leaving for Baltimore, I checked
> fluids
> and the tensions of the belts, etc. Almost immediately on the road I
> noticed
> an unfamiliar sound and felt its corresponding vibration. My first
> thought
> was front wheel bearing as i had recently had them repacked by a
> questionable mechanic. At my first stop, I checked the temp of the
> wheels.
> Nothing abnormal there.
>
> My next thought was tire noise. I thought perhaps treads had become
> distorted from bad alignment or some such. No, they're fine and they
> aren't
> abnormally warm either. Then my thoughts went to transmission as all
> other
> systems are operating normally. Coolant temp normal, transmission
> shifting
> smoothly, etc. So, I don't think its transmission.
>
> As I became more fixated on the noise, it of course seemed to get
> louder and
> the vibration at my feet greater. I'm baffled. The noise is like the
> sound
> of offroad tires ont he pavement. It begins to be audible at about 25 mph
> and grows louder as speed increases. I still am thinking it might be
> wheel
> bearings but I figure if they were bad enough to make that kind of noise,
> they'd be smoking hot or comppletely kaput after 350 miles at highway
> speed.
>
> Any thoughts, citizens of the list? There were no unusual events to
> associate the new noise with am I am stumped.
>
> --
> mordo
> 1990 Carat
>