Wheel Grinding

[bjagd02]

Hello, my front left wheel is grinding... the only problem is I don't know where exactly and what is causing it. It sounds kinda like I have a monster truck tire. It sounds like whatever is making the sound rotates. And it produces this sound regardless of whether the brake is applied or not. I thought it might've been the brakes so I changed them, but it didn't help at all... was a good time to change them anyways... Any ideas of what the noise is? Thanks!

[CREWZIN]

Could be the wheel bearings. Lift the wheels off the ground. Grab either the top and bottom or both sides and shake (pull/push). If there's a good bit of movement, it's probably the wheel bearings are shot.

[wibigcheese]

Did you check to see if the caliper piston is retracting when the brakes aren't applied?

[bjagd02]

The wheel moved a fraction of an inch. I compared this to the other front tire, which didn't move at all. Is this small amount enough to diagnose it as the wheel bearing? And I didn't check the piston, other than putting it back into place when I installed new brakes.

[CREWZIN]

You wouldn't think that little bit of movement would be a bad bearing but it's enough to it it further diagnosed by someone with experience.

[bjagd02]

I went to a parts store, and they quoted the price to replace the bearings at around $70. Also, the guy at the shop said that they were "pressed", and I would have to take it somewhere to get the new bearings "pressed". Are there any other things I can check to see that may be causing this sound? I'm not too familiar with everything dealing with axles and steering, but I can't really afford to take it to a shop right now. Any suggesstions at all would be great. Thanks

[bjagd02]

After my last post, I read several other posts on this site and others about the ground cables keepings the wheel bearings from going bad. When I replaced my brakes, the ground cable on the drivers side was snapped off. I would've never made the connection.

[CREWZIN]

Yep, been telling everyone I can and posted threads and pictures of that grounding wire. Make sure they are connected securely on both front wheels.

[Candyman]

Hey their bjagd02,

How are your Tires? The reason I ask, back when I first bought my PT it came with some way cool high performance BFG Flame Cut Tires which I loved big time as they looked pretty cool. Problem was at around 33,000 miles or so I started developing a loud grinding like noise which I too thought was my wheel bearings so I replaced them but the noise still remained. It was then mentioned that the tires might be the issue which I was skeptical but after replacing them with a different tire and tread pattern the noise went away and everything was dead quiet once again. Their are not too many things as far as I am aware that can cause that kind of grinding noise that I am aware other than bearings or tires.

That's my two cents anyway. I wish you the best o luck on trying to troubleshoot and diagnose your problem.

[decals_by_jt]

if there are grounding straps on the front disk brakes.... do the rear disk brakes have them also?

jT