Help, scraping/grinding noise coming from front drivers side!

[robbieajr]

I am having some grinding, scraping noise coming from my front drivers side wheel when I turn my steering wheel to the right. I believe this to be a wheel bearing going bad, I have already this replaced once before about 3 years ago. I have been reading the forums and see that some people have trouble with the dust/rock shield making a scraping noise too. My question is, do you think this is a wheel bearing problem, or could it be the shield? The biggest thing a notice is that the noise only occurs when I turn the wheel to the right and there is some noticeable vibrating at higher speeds.
I have already ordered all new brake pads, rotors and a wheel hub assembly, but before I do the work is there anything I could check to verify it is in fact the wheel bearing that is the problem?
Thank you for your time!
Rob

 

[dmanns67]

You could try jacking up the front of the vehicle and rotating the wheels to see if you can replicate the noise. Also see if there is any slop in the wheel when moving back and forth.

When my hub assemblies went bad (both at the same time) I noticed a grinding noise around 25-30mph. Did you notice the same or is it just when turning right?

Also, make sure to fill out your vehicle profile so the members know what you drive and can better help diagnose your issue.

Here is another recent thread on grinding issue, http://gmtnation.com/forums/topic/10838-strange-grinding-noise/?hl=%2Bgrinding+%2Bnoise

 

[07TrailyLS]

I'd definitely consider this a bad bearing. Like dmann said jack her up a smidge off the ground and grab the top of your wheel under the wheel well and pull it toward you and push it back. If there's any play there's the problem.

 

[Matt]

I'm in the bad bearing club as well. The brake shield would make more of a scraping noise and is not dependent of wheel direction.

 

[robbieajr]

You could try jacking up the front of the vehicle and rotating the wheels to see if you can replicate the noise. Also see if there is any slop in the wheel when moving back and forth.

When my hub assemblies went bad (both at the same time) I noticed a grinding noise around 25-30mph. Did you notice the same or is it just when turning right?

Also, make sure to fill out your vehicle profile so the members know what you drive and can better help diagnose your issue.

Here is another recent thread on grinding issue, http://gmtnation.com/forums/topic/10838-strange-grinding-noise/?hl=%2Bgrinding+%2Bnoise

The scraping is evident regardless of speed and consistent with turning the wheel to the right. I will order new shields anyways so I have them on hand when doing the job this weekend. Has anyone had trouble with the shields? Does the scraping stay consistent regardless of the wheel turning?

 

[AtlWrk]

I'm in the bad bearing club as well. The brake shield would make more of a scraping noise and is not dependent of wheel direction.

I just replaced a scraping dust shield a few weeks ago and the scraping WAS only evident when turning one direction. Usually just hard and/or lurching turns at first but it eventually worsened to most turns to the right. Could not be replicated when I jacked up the wheel and turned it hard over. Not saying it's not a wheel bearing in your case but you know what scraping sheet metal sounds like.

 

[robbieajr]

I just replaced a scraping dust shield a few weeks ago and the scraping WAS only evident when turning one direction. Usually just hard and/or lurching turns at first but it eventually worsened to most turns to the right. Could not be replicated when I jacked up the wheel and turned it hard over. Not saying it's not a wheel bearing in your case but you know what scraping sheet metal sounds like.

Thanks AtlWrk, I'm leaning towards the dust shield being the problem too. Did this cause you any vibration when driving?

 

[kickass audio]

What does the scraping sound like? Is it like dragging a tin foil pan on the ground? If so it may be the dust shield(s). Usually bearings make a moaning sound when loaded down but don't always guarantee it to be the drivers side. It could be the passenger. I mis diagnosed a bearing on my truck as when I made right turns it would get loud and moan, I figured it would be the driver side one that is the issue since that is the bearing being loaded. WRONG! It was actually the passenger bearing that was bad. I learned that after I replaced the drivers side again it didn't correct the issue. Luckily I kept the first replacement bearing and threw that on the passenger side and its been good ever since.

What you can do to check if its the dust shield would be to take a look at your rotors. If you see a little bit of a lip at the ledge of the rotor then it very well could be your dust shield making noise as that ledge gets tall enough over the years and then will scrape the dust shield. Mine when it scraped was random. Sometimes it did it only when driving straight, other times when turning the wheel back and forth, it was never a true way to get it to make noise, just totally random. It does sound like dragging a foil pan or even a frying pan on concrete. Another way to know if its the dust shield making noise would be to pull your rotors off (since you seem to be replacing them anyway) and look for a round groove in the dust shield. If its there then that is the ledge of the rotor rubbing into the dust shield and just either using a chisel and a hammer to crack off the ledge on the rotor (if the rotors aren't warped, just trying to save some money for you) and then reinstall the rotor and you will be good.

Another thing to check would be your CV boots to make sure they aren't undone or torn but that is usually more like a flapping noise that sounds like you put a baseball card into the spokes of a bicycle while the wheel is spinning. can you get a video or sound clip of the sound maybe we can be familiar with the noise?

 

[JamesL3]

I have a little bit of both going on. Ill be changing the hub assemblies this weekend ( thanks to an eBay lead from HardTrailz) and eliminating the dust shields in the process. Then I will promptly tell my truck " make another noise, I dare you ". Something else will pop up and I will remember to never do that again. Good luck, and keep us posted if you find anything out of the ordinary!

 

[kickass audio]

The rear dust shields on my truck are rotted out bad but they haven't made a leak at all so I just ripped them off for what I could get to without having to pull the axle shafts out. The fronts you just need to undo the bolts for the wheel bearing which is only 3 bolts and you can slide the dust shield out. Unless you go off roading there really isnt much point to having them on. I was about to take mine off the truck until I found it was the rotors just having a build up at the edge that was rubbing.

 

[robbieajr]

Well I was able to work on my Trailblazer this past weekend. I changed all 4 rotors, all sets of brake pads, and I solved the grinding noise. I noticed right away when I removed my drivers side wheel that my tie rod end was shot. I replaced, got an alignment, and the noise is no longer.
BUT...the vibrating is still evident, and I now notice a different sound. Its almost like a rattle and I notice mostly at slower speeds. It is a hard noise to describe but it reminds me of the noise I heard when my wheel bearing went bad a few years back, just not as loud and not as consistent. Of course I returned the dust shields and wheel hub assembly that I purchased online when I first started this initial project.
When I got my alignment done, the tech mentioned to me that my front right upper ball joint was slightly loose and to keep an eye on it. I do not think this would be making the noise.
I have not changed my front or rear diff fluids yet, I just recently went over 100,000 miles, but again I don't think that could be making the noise.
Any ideas as to what could be making that noise, and also the vibrating, whether or not they are related.

 

[Matt]

Does the noise occur mostly going over bumps? If it does, check your sway bar end links.

 

[triz]

I had a scraping sound. Ended up being a warped rotor. Yours might be something else seeing as its consistent when turning.

 

[6716]

I had a scraping sound when I turned to the right. I pulled the wheel and gave the dust shield an attitude adjustment -- three whacks.

$0.

Done.

 

[robbieajr]

I solved the scraping noise, it was the tie rod end that was making the scraping noise when i turned the wheel. Now i have vibrating and what sounds like a bad wheel bearing sound, just not as consistent of a sound that i am used to and it does not change with turning the wheel to the left or right.