$1000 to make my prius quiet

You might have bad tires or bad wheel bearings

 

Tires can be a source of noise, so you may want to start there. Are you saying road noise or engine noise? Quite a few Dynamat old posts here I think.

A while back I had Goodyear ComforTred which was supposed to be quiet, but after some number of years despite OK tread on the rears, they were noisy.

 

The Michelin energy saver A/S tires are very quiet ! They made my 2012 liftback very quiet and smooth on the freeway at 75mph. Easy to have a conversation!

What type of tires are you running right now?

 

Talking about Dynamat (name brand) and others sound dampening materials alike.
I does work, very well depending on the thickness of the mats.
On my 2004, many years ago, I installed 3 layers of similar product on all bottom surfaces, 1 layer inside the doors and 1 layer in between the front door panels. I added and contour a thick cotton mat (carpet padding) over the wheels wells and then the original carpeting above them all. It was like a Rolls Royce, until I turned on the original Bla Bla Bla radio. This is a topic for another thread.
A good padding job will cost you under 1k, depending where you are located.

 

the body doesn't get noisier over time. i dropped 7 bills on michelin e/s, noise was cut in half.

 

you bought the wrong tyres if you were looking for quiet and/or mpg's. but agreed, wheel bearings can become very noisy. you might be able to replace them, and still have money left over for dynomat.

 

Yes Bisco is right, those are not the right tires for what you are looking for.

Do you happen to know anyone with a Prius? If so I'd ask them if you could ride in it or drive it. If not maybe the dealership?

 

96 dB seems high. Is there a specific area the sound resonates from? Is it just in the last 4 months with the 2 tires and now with the 2 new tires? What were the dB measurements several months ago? Can you have someone in the car with you and move your phone around to see if they can pinpoint the location? Where do you go for servicing?

Oh and another Fairfield guy!

Keep us posted.

 

Yep, true - just because they're new tires doesn't mean they're automatically quiet.

That would be good to know. One reading isn't going to tell much.

I will attest to the energy savers being quiet. LOVED those when I had them on. And they were quiet.

 

I'll agree with most of the replies above on cabin noise. I had a similar issue with roast nose getting louder and louder. I wound up having a bad passenger side rear wheel bearing. It was impossible for me to tell where the noise was coming from while driving (sounded like driver side front), but after jacking up the car and removing the wheels it was really easy to find the problem. Removal and replacement was fairly easy (you'll need to rent a hub puller). Huge difference once fixed.

 

Thanks for the update.

What mechanic are you using the the Fairfield area?

I helped another member a couple of months back with the drivers rear hub assembly and we did that for the cost of a timken assembly (I think it was $150).

 

Thanks for the info.

Good to know in case I am looking for a good mechanic to do something I would not do myself.

 

$1000 to make his car quiet. He got his wish, kind of, bearings at, $800

 

nice call jc.

 

Haha, I heard the rolling resistance on ComforTred is horrible. Will probably cause a huge drop in MPG. But I bet it's a quiet and soft ride.

 

Back in 2008 GY Assurance Comfortred was more common and considered OK LRR but not superior. Also it was a very long life tire (as I can attest) so MPG vs. life trade-off was favorable. But today I don't think we hear as much about them for Prii. In the end as they got old I think they lost traction and got noisy.