Wheel Noises

[Giorgio A Medranda]

Hey guys,

Lately, my front wheels have been making a metallic noise. The noise occurs with each revolution, therefore, the fast the car drives, the more frequent I hear the sound. I had my wheel bearings changed two years ago when something similar happened, but this seems to be too soon to have failing wheel bearings again. Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks!

Topic

[Mike]

Check the brakes.
The brake wear warning tabs will scrape on the rotors to let you know it’s time to replace the brakes.

Sadly, with the quality of some aftermarket parts, the wheel bearings are still a possibility.

[Christian]

As Bonnieman stated, the brakes or the bearing could be the problem.

To check the bearings lift the front end of your car (don’t loosen the lug nuts), then secure it. Put your hands on opposite sides of the tire and try wiggle the tire in all directions, if there is any play at then it’s likely your bearing. If there is play and is only when your hands are top and bottom it could possibly be a ball joint (which wont cause your symptoms). If you dont have any play with the tire in the air, check the brakes.
To check your brakes you’ll have to remove the tire to get a good look at them, if there’s still meat on the pads then I’d pull them off to make sure there is or isn’t a wear tab on the pads. If there is and the tab is at the same level as the pad then that’s likely your problem. Replace them and if you still have a metallic noise then keep us updated.

[Wyr Twister]

Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive ?

What model and how many miles ?

Noise in one side or both sides ?

God bless
Wyr

[Mark Babunovic]

It is also possible that your rotor is making contact with the back plate, which can happen either from rust buildup on the back of the rotor, or from a deformed back plate (e.g. if hit by road debris). If your noise sounds like something grinding on sheet metal, and if it increases or decreases when you turn one direction or the other, this is a likely suspect. You can check for it by removing the tire, while chocked and in neutral on jack stands, and turning the rotor by hand. If you hear scraping on the back plate, you would need to remove the caliper to see where in back the rotor is making contact. If it is due to a rust ridge on the rotor, take the rotor off and grind the ridge down with a file. If it is instead caused by a deformed back plate, you need to push/pry it back until you have sufficient clearance.

[Author]

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