Cant find the grind while braking

[The_EE]

Here is the situation...

About a month ago I had a ball join fail on my car. luckily it happened in the gas station parking lot at 2mph and no on the freeway. Damaged the fender etc but I got the car back up and running. Since then, I have had a weird grinding when I hit the brakes lightly.

Here is what I have changed since then to find the cause and eliminate it.

Both lateral arms
Brakes
turned rotors
struts
springs ( lowered the car )
rear camber kit

I have tested the car for the hub bearings but the wheel had no in and out movement.

Only things I can think of now would be the lower control arm or maybe alignment causing the feeling? Alignment is going to be done Monday.

any other help would be nice because I am running out of go fast cash fixing things trying to find the solution.

 

[DiamondStarAwd]

Is it just when you press the brakes?

 

[The_EE]

Yes it is. Only light braking though, if I mash the brakes I dont get the grind/vibration through the pedals.

 

[JayRolla]

Maybe the caliper was damaged and its dragging.

 

[DiamondStarAwd]

warped rotors possibly. If you feel a vibration they could be warped.

 

[The_EE]

I would think that if the rotor was warped, that would have been noticed during the resurfacing right?

Could be the caliper, How would I go about testing that?

 

[plymubishi]

did you have all of the rotors trimmed? if not maby 1 you didnt touch is a little out and is only showing signs of it now that other ones have been corrected.

 

[The_EE]

I did not get the rear ones turned since the pads and everything look good and there was no scoring on the rotors themselves.

I may end up getting that done soon. Could the car not being aligned after being dropped cause the problem? Its going to get an alignment done tomorrow morning so that is going to be taken out of the equation anyways.

could a damaged axle cause this? When my ball joint failed, it did manage to seperate the axle but I was able to put it back together and put the boot back on.

 

[plymubishi]

i don't think it would be in an axle because the stress is off of it when braking.

 

[The_EE]

Could the lower contol arm cause it?

When I take the car to the shop to get the alignment done, I will have him check to make sure my calipers are working right. I will have him check my rear rotors as well to see if they are in fact warped.

 

[Defiant]

Check the disk dust shield. Yank the disk and look for the shiny spot.

 

[90 GSX]

Check the disk dust shield. Yank the disk and look for the shiney spot.

A dust shield would def. make a grinding noise but he says it only happens on light braking...

For some reason, a lot of DSM's I have driven grind/moan as you are braking to a stop under 10 mph. I wonder what it is...

 

[The_EE]

Well, Alignment was done as was an inspection of the brakes, calipers and pads. All is well on those. My /tire/brake guy said its coming from the rear but he cannot pin point where it is coming from, he said it might very well be a bearing. I am going to test the rear for play since I had not done that thinking it was coming from the front.

man, was an alignment needed badly...

LF
-1.8 Camber
3.5 Caster
-0.36 toe

RF
-2.4 camber
5.0 caster
-0.53 toe

-0.88 total toe
0.09 steer ahead

LR
-1.7 camber
-0.74 toe

RR
-1.7 camber
-0.34 toe

-1.07 total toe
-0.20 thrust angle

everything is tip top now except the camber, which needs to be done BAD. he said he would give me a discount on a realignment when I get the camber kit installed.

Is there a difference between a 96 and 97 for caster and toe? I just noticed, he accidently put me down as a 96 with 16" rims instead of a 97 with 17.

 

[plymubishi]

The Emergency Brake May Be Hanging Up Slightly,that Could Cause Some Noise At Easy Low Speed Braking. Just Another Suggestion

 

[The_EE]

Ill check that out as well tomorrow if I have the time. I just hate driving my car with the brakes or whatever it is doing that, it scares me. Ever since the Ball Joint Failure ever little sound from the car makes me cringe.

 

[The_EE]

Did not have any time today to check anything really. I did talk with the head Mitsu Tech at my local dealership and he said it sounded like the Transfer Case is going out. He said I should check the level of fluid and all was fine.

What in the driveline could cause this? Its rather rythmic as its getting slightly worse. Perhaps it is a rear bearing? Who knows. I will do a complete check on the car this weekend since this X-Mas is going to be spent at home so I will have 3 days to go over everything on the car.

Any other ideas of what to check ( thats not on the list from replies? ), no matter how remote the possibility will be very helpful

 

[The_EE]

Rear Diff checked out, fluid is fine.
Both hub bearings checked, both fine.

Problem though, one of the two rubber bushings that you bolt the rear diff into is starting to rip, think that could cause one end to twist while braking sending the drive shaft into the exhaust? I am going to test it out Saturday by taking the exhaust off and driving it to see if it grinds when I brake.

Also, the bushing looks like its hooked up to number 19, the rear cross member. They look like they are pressed in.