The current researches of wheel vibration and sound radiation mainly focus on the low noise damped wheel. Compared with the traditional research, the relationship between the sound and wheel/rail contact is difficulty and worth studying. However, there are few studies on the effect of wheel load on wheel vibration and sound radiation. In this paper, laboratory test carried out in a semi-anechoic room investigates the effect of wheel load on wheel natural frequencies, damping ratios, wheel vibration and its sound radiation. The laboratory test results show that the vibration of the wheel and total sound radiation decrease significantly with the increase of the wheel load from 0 t to 1 t. The sound energy level of the wheel decreases by 3.7 dB. When the wheel load exceeds 1 t, the attenuation trend of the vibration and sound radiation of the wheel becomes slow. And the increase of the wheel load causes the growth of the wheel natural frequencies and the mode damping ratios. Based on the finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM), a rolling noise prediction model is developed to calculate the influence of wheel load on the wheel vibration and sound radiation. In the calculation, the used wheel/rail excitation is the measured wheel/rail roughness. The calculated results show that the sound power level of the wheel decreases by about 0.4 dB when the wheel load increases by 0.5 t. The sound radiation of the wheel decreases slowly with wheel load increase, and this conclusion is verified by the field test. This research systematically studies the effect of wheel load on wheel vibration and sound radiation, gives the relationship between the sound and wheel/rail contact and analyzes the reasons, therefore, it provides a reference for further research.