08baltls

iTrader: (3)

I've got a weird rotational squeaking sound coming from the front driver side. I had the tires replaced about 500 miles ago, but about a week ago I noticed a weird noise. It only happened when I had the wheel hard over making a right hand turn. Being that I'm lowered I figured I was rubbing a tire on the wheel well since I went with factory size 18's. Pulled the wheel off and sure enough it was rubbing because my intake in the well was pushing the plastic back toward the tire. I replace my old intake and the rubbing seemed to stop for a day or so. I drive the car a little bit and I notice the rotational squeak (think rubber on a smooth concrete floor).

At this point Im a bit lost. I know the three rotational parts in that well are the brakes, wheel bearing, and axle. So Im fairly certain its narrowed down to those three parts. Theres nothing in the tire, and even after rotating the tires, the noise remained in the front drivers side. It seems to follow the rotation of the tire, which makes me think that its a bigger part than the axle, plus the CV boots look to be in good shape. But since I know its not the tire, I'm thinking the rotor and brake may be dragging. But like I said Im at a loss.

I need to do the brakes anyway cause the cars sitting at 80k, but I'm planning on starting there and seeing if that fixes it. If not I'll move on to the wheel bearing then the axle. Figure replace parts in the order of least to most expensive. But I figured I'd as here and see if anyone else's brain can come up with something to check or maybe someone has had similar issues.

LotusRenaultF1

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be a bad hub bearing. Have you noticed an intense amount of heat when taking that wheel off? That's what mine was doing.

08baltls

iTrader: (3)

I haven't noticed any more than usual. I had the car up in the air on Tuesday and wiggled the wheel at 12/6 and even at 9/3 to check for play thinking it may also be a tie rod end, and there was no play at all.

I've spun the rotor by hand and the sound seems to be coming from a part of the rotor as is passes through the caliper. I figured when I bought the car used that the brakes had probably been changed, but I guess there is a good chance that they're still the stock pads and rotors and at 80k a brake job won't hurt.

I am really hoping its just in the brakes cause I really don't feel like changing the bearing.

LotusRenaultF1

Probably uneven wear. I'd imagine at least 1 brake job would have been done by 80k but then again people today are stupid when it comes to regular maintenance. Hopefully that's what the problem is.

Black SS/SC 06

iTrader: (6)

Might be the wheel hub assembly

08baltls

iTrader: (3)

Well I bought the car with 46k on it, and that was almost 4 years ago. I dont know why, but I just assumed that the brakes had probably been done by the owner before I got it. But there's a good possibility that they never did. I never gave it much thought because I figured I would hear the squealer when they started going, but I read somewhere the other day that some brake pads didnt have them.

Either way, I know the breaks are needing to be done, so I think thats a safe place to start. If the noise continues, I'll look into the wheel hub and bearing assembly. I know its only about $100 and a fairly straight forward swap, so if it has to be replaced, I'll bite the bullet and do it.

The only thing that makes me lean away from thinking a hub/bearing assembly, is that when I spin the rotor by hand after a minute or two, I can start to hear the noise very faintly as one portion of the rotor passes through the caliper. Now, that may not necessarily indicate the brakes, I think that will be the best place to start. I'm just honestly hoping that its not a dragging caliper.

ItalianJoe1

iTrader: (10)

Do you feel any roughness on the knuckle when you spin the tire? Usually, even with no play evident, a failing bearing will transmit a "rumble" through the knuckle when spun, can also be felt in the coil spring.

Try pushing the caliper back a little bit and see if the noise goes away. Also if it's very difficult to push the caliper back in that could indicate a sticking caliper that's dragging as you suspected. Also when it's pushed back, slide it back and forth on the slide pins and make sure it's smooth and easy, simple crud buildup in the sliders can turn into binding and funny noises when everything heats up and is often very difficult to track down on it's own.

08baltls

iTrader: (3)

It doesn't really "feel" gritty, but it sort of sounds gritty when I rotate it by hand. But that doesn't tell me a whole lot since its not under a load. So it very well may be a wheel bearing starting to go. I know that being lowered can cause all kinds of adverse effects on wheel bearings, and since my car is raked down in the front. That could have cause enough wear on the bearing to make it go out.

Im probably just going to go ahead and replace the wheel bearing too. Im fairly certain that its either in the brakes or the bearing, so replacing them both should take care of it and then I wont have to worry.

05REDROCKET

If it makes the noise while turning right but not left it is most likly the drivers front hub assembly.

08baltls

iTrader: (3)

Well thats the thing. When I noticed it it was only when slowing down coming to a stop and not at all when turning. But today it the noise and I noticed it seemed to stop while I was going around a right hand corner. I couldnt get it to replicate the sound or anything when I drove it again to see if it made it going around a left turn. So Im starting to suspect the wheel bearing quite a bit. But so far, its only happened (sound going away when turning) the one time.