Right front wheel grinding.

[A Sharp]

Hey,

The front right wheel of my 95 Talon is making a grinding/rubbing noise whenever I am coasting at any constant speed. When I even slightly accelerate or step on the brake the noise immediately goes away. Also, it sounds like the rubbing is happening mostly in one spot as the wheel rotates. In other words, while I'm going at slower speeds it's sort of a rapid "wah wah wah wah..." noise. I began noticing it when temperatures started getting above freezing, but this may be coincidental.

I've done some reading and it sounds like it could be anything from the brakes, to a wheel bearing, to a CV boot.

Just wanted to know what you guys think before I get too far into it.

Thanks!

 

[93AWDDSM]

you're mostly on the right track with the wheel bearing as I would look into that first.

EDIT: have you checked the wheel wells for actual rubbing spots on plastic?

 

[A Sharp]

I have done a quick look-over of the wheel and there isn't anything that appears to be rubbing. I also looked the tire itself over, and it didn't seem to be getting eaten up in any places.

Is there any way to test if it is a bad wheel bearing before taking it apart?

Thanks.

 

[93AWDDSM]

A bad wheel bearing will have movement no matter where you grab the tire and wiggle when it's off the ground. Most of the time you can diagnose it like this...

1) have movement when grabbing top and bottom of tire = bad ball joint
2) have movement when grabbing sides of tire = bad tierod end
3) have movement in all directions = bad wheel bearing

edit: also your a 2G a lot easier to replace wheel bearing.

 

[A Sharp]

Thanks a lot!

I forgot to mention that I recently got an alignment and they replaced the tie rod. I would think that any wheel play should have been obvious to them, but I guess you never know. I'll jack it up and have a look for myself.

 

[luv2rallye]

Also check that the pad wear indicator or the dust shield isn't rubbing against the rotor.

 

[dharrison]

i definatly would check the brakes, the wheel bearing is most likely

 

[74runner]

When your driving straight and you hear the sound, weave a little to the left and then right (like Nascar/F1 do to warm up the tires) , if the sound go's away its a wheel bearing. If you turn a corner and it grinds or sounds clunky it's a CV joint/axel, if you turn a corner and just get 1 clunk its a ball joint, if you turn a corner and accelerate and the car pulls or feels loose to one side that's a weak tie rod. It could also be a drive shaft U-joint but, they tend to squeak at slower speeds and then vibrate as you get moving faster.
If you just had a tierod done in the shop they may have bent your dust shield and its rubbing on the rotor or they left the ball joint cotter pin sticking out and rubbing on the rotor

 

[A Sharp]

I jacked up the car and checked for wheel play, and it is rock solid. I took the wheel off and thoroughly checked over all the parts for any obvious signs of rubbing, but saw nothing. I took the brake apart to check it for problems. The brake looks very clean and there is plenty of material left on the pads. Finally, I played with the cv boots to see if they were cracked and they weren't. Also, turning the wheel produces no noise or vibrations that I can detect.

I did the swerve test that 74Runner suggested and it did make the noise stop. This leaves me thinking that the problem is definitely the wheel bearing. Am I right?

Thanks.

 

[74runner]

I jacked up the car and checked for wheel play, and it is rock solid. I took the wheel off and thoroughly checked over all the parts for any obvious signs of rubbing, but saw nothing. I took the brake apart to check it for problems. The brake looks very clean and there is plenty of material left on the pads. Finally, I played with the cv boots to see if they were cracked and they weren't. Also, turning the wheel produces no noise or vibrations that I can detect.

I did the swerve test that 74Runner suggested and it did make the noise stop. This leaves me thinking that the problem is definitely the wheel bearing. Am I right?

Thanks.

Yes, sounds like a wheel bearing for sure if the noise went away when you were swerving. Keep us posted

 

[Yomero]

Yes Sir. Most likely Wheel bearing. Sometimes they dont move but you can hear a grinding noise.

 

[74runner]

Well, how did you make out ?

 

[dougiefresh]

well in a little bit im jacking up mine,. i get road noise "hum" more then normal. when going straight or turning left. tho when im turning right its nice and quite... any thoughts?

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

well in a little bit im jacking up mine,. i get road noise "hum" more then normal. when going straight or turning left. tho when im turning right its nice and quite... any thoughts?

Sounds like the right side wheel bearing is bad. When turning left or going straight the right side wheel bearing is loaded and that is why you're getting a noise. When you turn right all the load is on the left side so your bad bearing on the right side is quiet, because it is unloaded.

 

[Teezy]

I had almost the same symptoms you were having, and it was the right wheel bearing. Just to be sure which side it is, you can jack up the car and spin the hub to see if it makes a noise. If you are awd be sure to jack up all 4 wheels before you test the hub. I replaced mine with a complete hub from advance auto which was like 75 bucks. They can be a pain to remove, though. The hub I replaced was rusted on really good.