Front end grind... lend me your brain power.

[Blacksheep Josh]

Okay, I've been dealing with a front end grinding sound for a while now.

I was pretty sure it was a wheel bearing, so I replaced them....

But the sound was still there...

So I took it to a mechanic, who thought it was a wheel bearing as well, so he torqued them down, but the sound was still there.. this was about a year ago or so. Ever since then I've just turned the stereo up louder and delt with it, which leads us up to today.

My brake pads were gone, the rotors were trashed, so I setup to do pads/rotors, and decided to put in new inner/outer bearings on both front wheels, along with fresh grease, seals and all.

The noise is still there.

I know they are properly greased, because I spent 30 minutes on each one using the grease-in-palm method, then literally dunking them in the grease, so I know there is plenty of grease in there.

This is on a 2WD vehicle, so no front hubs/driveshafts or anything, I can't say for sure, but I'm thinking it's something tranny/engine related. Sometime tomorrow, I'm going to jack up each wheel on it's own, spin it as fast as I can with someone sitting inside and see if the noise is indeed wheel related.

I've thought maybe just bad tire noise from cheap tires, but the noise was there with good Dayton Timberline tires as well. Any thoughts guys? This is starting to really annoy me.

 

[corkey]

maybe it's not from the front?
or maybe it is a belt issue?, or power steering, ?

 

[fixxxer]

Have you checked the belt tensioner and idler pulley? when you replaced your wheel bearings, did you replace the bearing races also? When you have it up on stands or a lift, spin the tires slowly as well, see if you can feel any roughness you may not be able to hear. Without hearing what the noise sounds like, I'm just trying the "best-guess" method. For some reason, I was thinking you had a 4x4 Josh.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Corkey,
We can feel/hear it from the front. My friend (who is into cars just as much as me), thinks it's from the right side, or at least more from the ride side. But it feels almost like from teh transmission hump, but we can't be sure cause of all the others moans/groans it makes.

Fixxxer,
The rotors I use/used come with the bearing races all ready seated and everything in them.

At this point in my life I wish I had a 4x4, but that day will come when it comes and the time is right for me to start down that trail... and yes, I meant for that to be a pun.

 

[corkey]

is it a stick , or auto ?

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Automatic

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Anyone else have any other ideas?

 

[69Mach1]

I had a similar sound on my 93 4X4. I was dead sure it was a wheel bearing sound. My friend kept telling me it was my tires. I blew his idea off because it sounded like slight metal to metal rumble exactly what you would expect from bearings on their way south. A year and a half later I replaced my tires and damn if he wasn't right. No more grinding/rumbling sound.