Metal on metal grinding noise, louder on right curve/turn

J

jemmie

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Jan 7, 2012
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I have a 2005 GMC Envoy XL 4x4 4.2L and there's a noise that sounds almost like metal on metal grinding sound. It's not very loud but it's definitely there. However, I was able to drive 800+ miles back home from OBX without any problems.

The noise gets louder on right turns and is pretty quiet on left turns. I recently changed the brake rotors, if that makes a difference. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I would do a visual inspection, look for any unusual grinding, chips etc. It wouldn't hurt to turn the rotor and the wheel hub and see if you can feel or hear any thing out of the ordinary as well. Quite a few things that could cause it.
 
Its the dust sheild on the

Sorry.....its the dust sheild rubbing on ur rotor. Take it off. Its bent.
 
jrSS said:
Its the dust sheild on the

Sorry.....its the dust sheild rubbing on ur rotor. Take it off. Its bent.
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:rotfl: i think i know what you mean :undecided::crackup:

to the OP, as suggested earlier, visually inspect things.. and since you just did brakes, i would tend to think its the shield as well... does the noise happen when youre driving on a straight road, or just turning and under load on one side or another?
 
And if not that, the hub bearings are usually sensitive to which way you're turning. How many miles?
 
I would defiantly check that hub bearing, spin it and feel for any slight vibrations ect. :twocents:

I had my passenger hub bearing start going bad around 110k , it had the same deal with getting louder/ quieter when turning left and right. I just replaced them both at the same time figuring the other one would go out soon. Pretty easy to do, if you have 4wd or awd you will need a 35mm socket to get the axle shaft nut off.
 
Called Autozone. Duralast (1 yr warr) is $99 and Timken (3 yr warr) is $169. Is Timken worth the premium?
 
YMMW. To me, yes.

BTW....is the noise low in tone, or is it a high-pitched scraping sound..?? High-pitched would be the rotor dust shield. Low and rumbly *might* be the hub bearing.

As it stands, I intend on keeping this vehicle for quite a long time. The warranty is peace of mind. The more expensive hub bearings are also much better quality.

I bought Moog w/ 3 year warranty from Advance Auto parts when they ran a 20% discount. I think they are running 15% discount codes right now. There are also online favs like Amazon and RockAuto too.

Dave.
 
jemmie said:
Called Autozone. Duralast (1 yr warr) is $99 and Timken (3 yr warr) is $169. Is Timken worth the premium?
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Ask Autozone to declare the Country of Origin of each of those items. Take it from there. $99 bearings are likely to be CCC. :hissyfit: Everybody should know by now what I mean by that acronym. :wink:
 
Just an FYI, Raybestos hubs are made in China and are crap. I had one unexpectedly grenade itself within a couple of months. Replaced those with Timken. I don't think anything but Timken is made in USA.
 
the roadie said:
I had a couple of Michigan Bearings proudly made in USA units. I beat them to death as fast as any offshore crap. Back to Timkens for me.
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Me too. Didn't abuse them at all, and they still lasted just long enough to be shamed by their CCC bretheren..!!

I figure Moog must be OK if they are prepared to put a 3yr warranty on them.
 
I lifted the front end and tried a few things:

1) Shake front wheels to see if there's any play. I couldn't feel any.
2) Turned wheel while listening to bearings with stethoscope. I couldn't hear anything abnormal on either side.
3) Examine dust shield to see if it's rubbing. Nothing.
4) Turned steering all the way to the right and look at all three of the above (because noise seemed louder on right turns). Nothing.

What's all this mean?
 
When my dust shields were rubbing I could spin the wheel while front in the air and hear the metal on metal noise. I couldn't actually see them rubbing tho till I took all apart and took them off. Maybe try that.
If its the hub bearing then its usually the hub opposite of turning. So if u r turning left usually the right hub will grind.
 
I don't hear the noise when I turn the wheels when the vehicle's front is lifted.
 
jemmie said:
2) Turned wheel while listening to bearings with stethoscope. I couldn't hear anything abnormal on either side.
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When the wheel is in the air, the pressure is on the opposite side of the bearing race than when it's on the ground. Bearings often don't make noise until they're almost dead when you take the weight off.
 
the roadie said:
When the wheel is in the air, the pressure is on the opposite side of the bearing race than when it's on the ground. Bearings often don't make noise until they're almost dead when you take the weight off.
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That's what I guessed - thanks for confirming.

So follow-up question is - If noise is louder when I am turning right, is it most likely left or right bearing? I'm just trying to avoid doing unnecessary work. The guy at Autozone says it's the right one. It seems to me it should be the left one because more weight is on the left side when I am turning right.
 
jemmie said:
That's what I guessed - thanks for confirming.

So follow-up question is - If noise is louder when I am turning right, is it most likely left or right bearing? I'm just trying to avoid doing unnecessary work. The guy at Autozone says it's the right one. It seems to me it should be the left one because more weight is on the left side when I am turning right.
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Your MOST likely correct. Its usually the opposite side u turn.
 
Change your left wheel bearing. That is more then likely the correct one to replace. Do not throw out the replaced wheel bearing though, if for some reason it turns out that your right side is the issue you can always put it back on the right side as the replacement. Just a suggestion.
 
It's definitely the dust shield.

Take the wheel off and put a couple lugs back on, tightening them to get the rotor seated properly. Then run your fingers between the rotor and the dust shield, pushing it back wherever needed. It needs a minimum amount of clearance, so just because it's not touching anywhere doesn't mean it's not rubbing. It the shield seems to be too close, bend it back a bit
 
I changed the front left hub and it fixed the problem. It probably took under an hour.

The question now is: Should I change front right hub as well or wait for it to tell me to change it?
 
jemmie said:
I changed the front left hub and it fixed the problem. It probably took under an hour.

The question now is: Should I change front right hub as well or wait for it to tell me to change it?
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I'd wait until that one goes.. unless you want to do it for piece of mind... drivers side hub was changed at 23k miles... im still on the factory one on my passanger side... (knocking on wood now), no issues with either...
 
Boricua SS said:
I'd wait until that one goes.. unless you want to do it for piece of mind... drivers side hub was changed at 23k miles... im still on the factory one on my passanger side... (knocking on wood now), no issues with either...
Click to expand...

That's what I'm leaning towards. This last time, from the time I first noticed the noise to when I changed it, I probably put 2000+ miles on it (trip to Outer Banks from Indiana) and the bearings held up. Of course, knowing Murphy's Law, the next time it's probably going to blow up instantaneously...
 
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