SOLVED! Grinding in the front right.

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Maybe something in the brakes rubbing on the rotor?
 
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coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
I had the front tire off early today and inspected the dust shield. It doesn't look like it's hitting the rotor, and the grinding is a little more intense than what you'd expect from something rubbing on the rotor.

It definitely sounds like a bad bearing. But I didn't get much of a grinding noise (or feel) after I jacked up that corner and spun the wheel around.
 
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coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
No, the wheel is steady.

Best I can figure, It's the wheel bearing or something to do with the drive shaft (with wich I'm not very familiar.)
 

Maverick6587

Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
You could drive it for 5-10 minutes and then feel the center of the rims to see if it's the bearing or not. If it's the bearing that rim should be a little warmer than the others.

If you have another person to help you. You could let it roll forward very slowly while you listen near the tire/rim. I would do this without the engine running if you have a road/area that is a a slight decline to help with the rolling vs having someone else also help push the vehicle.

If you have an old camera or cell phone. You could zip-tie either to the frame while it's pointing toward some of the parts that are suspect to noise. Just keep moving it and re-zip-tie it until you find exactly where the noise is coming from.

You could also use Eric O's trick of the large screwdriver attached to a gallon jug. This would only work while the truck is jacked up in the air but, you might be able to hear more noise with this than just by listening with your ears.
 

coolride

Original poster
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Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
I have a mechanic's stethoscope that I use often. It's a great tool.

I had the wheel off and had a listen but all I got was brake noise. I didn't want to pull the brakes off so I put it all back together. I didn't have the time yesterday.

I noticed a worse grinding when I drive the TB in reverse. With the wheel cranked hard left it grinds, hard right, no grind (all moving in reverse.)
 
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TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
Could be the front axle disconnect too. Or even a differential.
 

coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
Trying to diagnose what's going on. I searched "grinding noise" and there's a lot of people saying that a bad bearing can stop grinding when the wheel is in the air.
 

mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
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Tampa Bay Area
I had the identical "Grinding" sound symptoms and Hub Problem on my son's 2003 Silverado... and received some Great Assistance from some GMTN Members via the attached Link. I Documented this R&R (Picture Heavy ) and hopefully it will prove helpful:

 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Did you shake the tire when jacked up? By the time I get real noticable grinding I can feel the hub give with a simple shake.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Yup. Same number.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I always find it is the side i don't think the noise is coming from. But these days I do both if one is potentially bad cause I figure I have done same driving on both and they prolly close to same wear.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I would not call rubber on plastic grinding, but i had it happen far too often lifting vehicles and know that distinct sound.

Good thing is you can fix it with a simple razor knife.
 

coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
Did something cause the inner fender to drop?

When my sister owned the vehicle, she loaned it to her son and he hit something. The front end has cracked plastic here and there. The bumper cover and inner fenders are held in place with zip ties and a miss-mash of bolts from my father's coffee can stash. I'm not too worried about it.


I decided to buy a new bearing and see if that fixes the grinding noise. I didn't want a Chinese part but that's what they sent me.
tb86.jpg
 

coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
I would not call rubber on plastic grinding, but i had it happen far too often lifting vehicles and know that distinct sound.

Good thing is you can fix it with a simple razor knife.

It didn't grind but it did make an impressive sound. Also, the aggressive tread on the outside edge of the tire did create some vibration as each lug one slammed into the plastic inner fender. Imagine full lock left hand turn with the front outside edge of the tire rubbing against the front inner fender liner.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
No need to imagine. Its standard rubbing sound I have heard on n off for a couple decades. Nice thing is it is simple to see where it occurs since rubber transfers easily or at least cleans off any dust/dirt/grime. Makes it simple to know where to trim.

I can't stand the sound and I go by the if the tires touch then they don't fit while a great many are fine with the tires rubbing occasionally when flexed or what not.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Nice thing is you can just cut that plastic off with a razor blade
 
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coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
Warm weather today and tomorrow. It's a good time for projects. I pulled the wheel and brakes then started spinning the hub by hand, listening for grinding noises with the stethoscope. The hub sounds very quite but the axle disconnect sounds dry as a bone.

What's the chance that my grinding noise is the axel disconnect and not the bearing?
tb88.JPG
 
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Drec

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Jan 29, 2018
216
Yakima, Washington
Several years ago, maybe more than a couple, I had what sounded like a bad wheel bearing. The following thread post #2 is how I solved the problem.

 
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bfairweath

Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
What's the chance that my grinding noise is the axel disconnect and not the bearing?

Chances are really good. I just went through this issue with my TB. I too thought it was the wheel bearing. Actually bought one to install. As soon as I got the wheel off, and started disassembly, the real problem was evident.

Grab the inner tripot of the CV shaft and try to shake it up and down. If there is excessive play, the outer seal and bearing of the disconnect are destroyed. Lots of information here on how to remove, rebuild, and/or replace the disconnect.
 

gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Front hub and bearings usually seem to go around 120-140K on these vehicles. The tripod joint should have very little of any movement in the disconnect. If you can wobble it around that would be bad.
 
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coolride

Original poster
Member
Aug 23, 2019
596
Adirondacks
I headed out the other day to buy a propane or a kerosene heater for the garage. I stopped at the GF's because she used to have a couple gallons of kerosene kicking around. She lost track of the kerosene but had this extra space heater.

The right fender of the Trailblazer was at 37 degrees this morning. I turned on the heater and now it's up to 45. So things are getting better.
tb89.jpg
 

Mektek

Member
May 2, 2017
656
FL
When my sister owned the vehicle, she loaned it to her son and he hit something. The front end has cracked plastic here and there. The bumper cover and inner fenders are held in place with zip ties and a miss-mash of bolts from my father's coffee can stash. I'm not too worried about it.


I decided to buy a new bearing and see if that fixes the grinding noise. I didn't want a Chinese part but that's what they sent me.
View attachment 92200


You thought that the timken name assured you of a non Chinese part? Timken only makes the rolling balls and inner races. The rest is all made and assembled in the Chinese factory. The critical part is the outer race which commonly fails, not the timken parts.
If the Chinese factory didn't do a proper job then the hub is doomed to a early failure - regardless of the name or price on the box. The Moog unit I have is made in Korea. Are the Korean factories better than the Chinese???????

Here's a bit I got from another post:

Timken WAS the goto in the aftermarket at one time when you could get your hands on the hubs made in the USA, however even Timken is outsourcing to Korea and China now and the hubs are failing rather quickly…
 
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bfairweath

Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
I've had a couple Timken hubs that I installed on my truck fail over the years. I went with a Moog for the last one I did. Right now, I have a Timken on one side and a Moog on the other.

The Timken's I installed didn't go anywhere close to 100,000 miles. The Moog has about 25,000 miles on it and working okay.
 
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TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
There are a couple way to pull the axle, axle puller, crow bar, and a few others.

The proper way is a CV axle puller/slide hammer

But I dont even do that. I get a crow bar behind the tri-pot, tap on it with a dead blow until its popped out.
 
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