Weird noise on right side.... April 09, 2005, 08:56:04 AM OK kiddies I know motors, I know trannys, a little about shocks and springs, but axles and rear ends are not my specialty if ya know what I mean. I can change parts easy enough, but diagnosing a problem is another story.I'm hearing a very low pitch metallic grinding at highway speeds that seems to be coming from my right front tire. No noise until 67 MPH and then it rears it's ugly head. It is MUCH louder if I take the car around a long left curve. My front wheel bearings are new (under 3000 miles) and I'm leaning towards those being my problem, but I'm not sure. My brakes are solid, tire pressure is 32 all around, and I did not do anything to the car that would have made this abruptly show up (ie. install something incorrectly and then problem immediately starts). Is there anything else this could be besides a bearing and if not why would a bearing go bad so quickly? I greased the heck out of em...... Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #1 – April 09, 2005, 10:48:37 AM new races and bearings Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #2 – April 09, 2005, 07:15:14 PM Bearings are a possibility, but you should also check the ball joints (look at where the lower control arm goes into opening on the the backside of the rotor - if it's touching or very close, replace your ball joints NOW). Also, if your rotors are old you may have a ridge of rust around the outside edge that is touching the caliper. Outside of that you just might have to resort to about.com:evilgrin: Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #3 – April 09, 2005, 11:25:01 PM Check the outside edge of the front tire. If it has a somewhat blocky tread pattern, you might find the outside blocks to be unequal in height in groups of 3, & slightly tapered. Mine did this from the time it was new until they quit making Goodyear Eagle GT+4 tires in my size. It would get 3 different heights, repeating all the way around the tire. Sounded somewhere between a bad wheel bearing & a mud-grip tire noise. The alignment shop said it was a characteristic of the Fox platform if it had a blocky tread pattern, py shocks, & an aggressive driver. He said if he could have moved the top of the struts a little farther outboard it would have helped a lot, but that most of them don't have that much travel (mine still had a little too much negative camber at maximum adjustment). I talked to a Goodyear rep & he said I could switch sides as long as they were H-rated or better, & if I kept over 30# of air in them. I switched the front tires every 2-3000 miles, & it minimized the noise. I tried a set of Eagle HP's, & the directional tread pattern seems to keep the problem at bay. Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #4 – April 10, 2005, 12:22:20 AM Jim, that's known as "Scalloping". Anyone with a 4WD truck is quite familiar with that condition :D The tires on my Dakota are near square. You can actually feel the things through the steering wheel when driving very slow (parking lot speeds). You can usually hear 'em on a vehicle as it drives by, as well - it makes a "Wopwopwopwopwop" sound Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #5 – April 10, 2005, 08:18:17 AM Not the rotors.....they were replaced the same time the bearings were. Tires are good as well. There is about 1/4" of space between the control arm and rotor on both sides as well. Guess it's time to pull the bearings off and see why they went so fast...... Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #6 – April 10, 2005, 10:41:31 PM Quote from: Thunder Chicken. You can usually hear 'em on a vehicle as it drives by, as well - it makes a "Wopwopwopwopwop" soundI do remember that! And all this time I thought it was just making disrespectful comments about my ancestry.:D Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #7 – April 29, 2005, 10:09:36 PM check the sway bar link it could be grinding into your wheel, had that problem on the 83 TC. was actually installed upside down Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #8 – April 30, 2005, 09:44:49 AM Sometimes the inner race of a new bearing can be warped ( roller contact surface). Had that problem before, and seeing as how you can't see the inner race, it can be difficult to find. Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #9 – May 01, 2005, 02:35:29 PM Spindal wear and tear on high mileage (symptom-vibration or noise with new front end parts)remove Tire, Caliper,RotorClean spindal off of any greeselook for a circular wear pattern where the inner race of the inner bearing would be normally (the flat inner area just prior to the uphill tapper).If for some reason the inner race was able to freespin (as time goes on), it will wear down the spindal.no matter how much you tighten the spindal nut, the inner bearing "inner race" is not tappered so its not adjustable. If they were, your shaft is tappered to compensate for this but for some reason the inner race is fairly parallel with the spindal shaft.Under normal cirspoogestances, the inner race of the actual bearing does not spin (meaning does not spin against the spindal / no friction) but it will eventually cut loose.If you reinstall your wheel without the caliper on and still feel side to side play, the spindal is worn.Use "shim stock" on the spindal assy or something real thin that will put the spindal and inner race in a bind when the rotor is installed.Here is what i did Shim stock is fairly easy to find and comes in .001 to .003 inches or so. I discovered that its pretty much like foil but better than aluminum foil. I found that the regular cooking aluminum foil is .001 and the thicker bar-b-que foil is about .003.I cut out a piece of the .003 foil in a piece that was 1/4'' wide and 1 inch long.I layed it on the spindal in the "wear band" area longways. There will be a tapper in the spindal right about in this area so you will sort of form it to the angle of the spindal. Dont wrap it around the spindal but lay it on so it ends up perpendicular to the inner bearing race.Reinstall your inner seal after you add new grease and such.slide your rotor up and you will feel the inner bearing get into a bind.When this happens, add your spindal nut/washer to finish pressing on the rotor.this worked perfect for me and its actually an accepted technique in machine shops for various "shaft" repair work. You should actually purchase some shim stock but i used this instead.you might have trouble getting this to work and your wear might require a larger or smaller piece so play around with it.Its my belief that if you ever wondered way the rotor nut seems to be going on further and further,, its probably because your spindal is worn. Ever notice that the force it takes to get the nut tight in order to install the cotter pin becomes easier and easier,? spindal wear for sure. Quote Selected
Re: Weird noise on right side.... Reply #10 – May 02, 2005, 02:30:32 PM Fixed..... The race and bearing were SHOT :( Removed, Replaced, and torqued to PROPER specs (did both sides of course). The right side had been overtorqued. Oh well, live an learn Quote Selected
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