tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

whenever i turn at low speeds or brake or give it gas, there is a series of clicking noises in the front left side of the car, near the wheel area. when i'm on the highway i don't hear anything. there is no grinding noise, just clicks and pretty loud. also the wheel is tilted a little and the top of the tire is facing inward, resulting in a bad wear of my tires. when i had the car aligned they said something was bent underneath the car and that they didn't know what it was but it was causing the alignment to not be able to be adjusted properly resulting in either the car veering far to the left or having the tire wear a little unevenly. i chose the uneven wear.

my dad listened to it tonight and feels confident it's a wheel bearing going out. does that sound accurate? if not, then does anyone know what it could be?

shaun

try this get on the hwy and go about 60-70 the turn the wheel a little to the right then a little to the left if the noise goes away then its the wheel hub and you have to swap out the whole hub not just the bearing because its a sealed piece.
i had a problem with my right front tire vibrating and i got new tires and even swaped my nitto drags to the front and it still did it.
the it would go away on the road when i would vere to the left when the suspention would put weight on that side i swaped the hub and now its perfect.
the hub is about 80-90 bucks at advance and is a easy swap i just had to borrow a axle puller because of surface rust between the hub abd spindle and it wouldent come loose any other way lol.
good luck and pm me if ya need any more help.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Or you can just tap the back of the surface holding the studs with a hammer and it will pop off.

Yes, this does sound like a bearing. If you jack the car and take the brake caliper and rotor off, you can turn the bearing and listen and feel what it does. If its crystal smooth - its good. If it feels/sounds like a meat grinder - its bad.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the help. at high speeds i don't have any noise at all, at least audible. the only noise associated that i can hear is a click clacking noise when i turn at low speeds or accelerate/decelerate at low speeds. there is no known noise at higher speeds, but i do have a cutout as well so that might prohibit me from hearing clearly. also when driving at faster speeds, your tires move much less when you turn your steering wheel to turn the car.

when you say take the rotor/caliper off and move the bearing, what do you mean exactly? or is it pretty obvious once i take it off?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

The dynamics and loads on the bearings are very different at various speeds, so a bad wheel bearing will sound differently (or not make a sound) in different conditions.

If you remove the caliper and rotor, it will be obvious what to turn. But this is kind of a pain in the but to do. (Removing the caliper.) You may be able to turn the rotor with the brake on and feel/hear issues. Or you can jack up the wheel and then pull on the top. If it wobbles at all - its a bad bearing.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

With the wheel up in the air, grab the tire at the top and bottom and try and push at the top and pull at the bottom, then reverse, racking the wheel back and forth.

With average worn bearings, you will get a little play ... but anything more than 1/4 means the bearings are loose.

But, I've never heard these sealed bearing make a lot of noise when they are questionable ... at least not from inside the car.

From your description, it sounds kind of the anti-rattle clips in the abutment brackets aren't centered.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

i did the jack up the car and push on the tire thing and got no play whatsoever, or at least that's what it seemed like. so if there was any, it was very little play practically unnoticeable. i turned the wheel also and there is no noise.

what and/or where are the anti-rattle clips in the abutment brackets?

the only noise i get is what sounds like rice krispies when i turn the wheels to the right or left at slower speeds. clickedy clack pop, clickedy clack clack. there is no other noise whatsoever that i can audibly hear. outside the car this is extremely loud, especially if you're listening as i turn into a parking spot to park. at high speeds the wheels don't turn sharp enough to initiate the noise, so i can go about 30 and turn rather sharply to repeat the noise. at 70 turning the wheel hard enough to cause the noise would cause me to rapidly veer over 3 or 4 lanes which is very difficult to do in the city safely.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

The thin, smooth, metal clips that the brake pad slides on.

I would also look for something simple, like the edge of the tire rubbing on an inner fender liner that has come loose ... something goofy like that.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

I had that on my right rear wheel. Drove me bonkers until I found out what it was. Something to check for sure.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

but it doesn't really sound like a wheel bearing? like i said, there was no play when i did the wiggle test.

Lt14mla

iTrader: (2)

I'm having the same exact problem too, I noticed my tie rod boot was all wet (sweating), not dripping though. There was also NO play in the wheel horizontal or vertical. I'm still trying to diagsnose it...

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

please let me know when you figure it out and i'll do the same. any other opinions here on the board? i'm not convinced it's the small metal things that the brake caliper slides onto. the cracking and popping noise i'm referring to is extremely loud, like so loud it could turn heads when you turn your car in a parking garage. there is no way those little suckers are causing noises that loud unless i'm confused about what you are talking about mitch (and i don't think i am confused).

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Well it will be kind of like a playing card on a bicycle spoke.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

you're talking about the little clips that have the weight of a feather that go in the top and bottom part of the caliper in between the caliper and brake pad, right? no, there is no way they would be capable of making a noise this loud unless they were combustible and blowing up while i'm driving. the depth of the popping noise makes me believe it's coming from some serious hardware.

Racin'Z28

iTrader: (7)

My initial thoughts after reading this whole thread is to look at the upper and/or lower ball joints. They will click and pop at lower speeds when turning and won't necessarily make a lot of noise at speed. If you have ruled out the wheel bearings, and based on what you said the play was in the hub, I would be looking at the Ball joints as the likely culprit. If they are very worn, they can get pretty noisy. Read some of the other threads on ball joints and you'll see the sounds are described in almost the same way. It seems like the ball joints in F-bodies begin to go out somewhere between 60k-80k miles, maybe more depending on driving styles.
Just my two cents.

Racin'Z28

iTrader: (7)

I just re-read your original post again and after I re-read about the position of the tires, I'm sure it's the ball joints. Be sure to replace both sides.
I just did ball joints on my car less than 1000 miles ago and i've responded to countless others with the same issue. Get the ball joints changed and it will go away.

Wesmanw02

iTrader: (4)

With these sealed hub assemblies, there doesn't have to be any noticeable play in the assembly for the bearing to be bad. I've seen plenty go bad where you couldn't feel any play, but with the weight of the car on it, you could feel the bearing was worn out.

The best thing to do it to listen for the noise it makes and how it feels. Typically, they will make a low pitched rumble "whop-whop-whop" sound as you go down the road, and the noise will exemplify if you turn in one direction or the other, due to the load on the bearings increasing. When I had a bad hub assembly on my Grand Prix, it was expecially bad on the highway at higher speeds, any amount of steering input and you could both feel and hear the bad bearing from inside the car.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I have hubs that are still servicable you can use to see if it fixes the problem.

I'm SW of Ft. Worth.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

Racin'Z28 - thanks a lot! is there a way to tell if it is the upper or lower? how bad is it to change these parts? my car has 76k miles on it so it's definitely in the mileage range you mentioned. the price of these parts are pretty low compared to the hub so that would be a fix even worth trying if the symptoms on paper seem to imply that is the problem.

mitch - thanks a lot. i may very well take you up on that offer. i am going to look up some more info on ball joints and see if i can deduce whether or not that seems like the most likely option or not. i'll keep in touch.

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

i'm thinking balljoints. I bet if you could get it on an alignment rack and have someone turn the wheel while you are under the car you could pinpoint which one. I heard this noise on a blazer before. You could check at home but the suspension has to be loaded.