Tires: Tire noise, noise question, tire noise

Question
QUESTION: I have what appears to be 1 tire that is making a loud noise. It started in the rear driver side as humming. I took the car to have the tires rotated and now it is on the front driver side & louder (closer to me, I know). The car has 20K miles on it.  It seems to increase with my speed.  Also might be a slight vibration - hard to tell with how bad the roads are.  I don't see anything sticking in the tire and I don't think it's worn down.  What else can it be?

ANSWER: Debbie,

If you have a misalignment in your vehicle, the tires are going to wear irregularly and that will generate noises and vibrations.

Moving the tire will cause the tire to wear differently - but that will take some time.  I suggest you get an alignment and wait 1,000 miles and see if the noise changes.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do I need to worry about the tire blowing out or something while I'm driving?  I recently moved to the area and do not know of a garage in my area.  My old home is a few hours away.

Answer
Debbie,

Take a few minutes to look carefully at your tires.  If there aren't any bulges apparent - and there probably aren't since someone actually handled the tires and should have noticed any bulges - and informed you of them - then there is no more risk of a blow than there would be under normal circumstances - recognizing that there is always a risk whenever any vehicle is driven.