Grinding sound coming from the right front wheel when making left turns

[Tfocker]

I did a gen 1 CTS-V brake swap a few months ago and at the time, noticed a minor scuffing/rubbing sound after we were done with the install. The car has been torn down and all over for engine work and other things, so I never really got around to looking at it, but it just sounded like new rotors scuffing on new pads. I figured it would go away. So today I finally got the car out on the road and got to put some miles on it and it's noticeably louder and when I make left turns, it really sounds rough.
My buddy suggested wheel bearings, but the car only has 40K on the clock. The brakes work fine and there's no weird noises when I apply them.
Any thoughts? I'll probably tear into it tomorrow and see what looks obvious.

[-Ray-]

Is it possible wheel weights are hitting?

[Strychnine]

Is it possible that the shield is bent slightly?

[Rob@WretchedMS]

is it possible the wheel is loose?
did you mess with the alignment/strut bolts, is the tire hitting the strut?

jack it up and wiggle things,

[Tfocker]

I took the wheel off and checked everything out but nothing looks out of sorts. There's no odd wear or anything obvious on the rotors, which is where I would think there should be some indication of an issue. I'm starting to think it might be power steering related, but it's weird that it only happens when turning one way.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

did you look to see if there was any shiny marks on the rotor or inside of the wheel?

[Tfocker]

Yep, I looked over everything and ran my finger over any surface that could possibly have an interference condition. Wheels have plenty of clearance, there's no metal shavings, nothing!
This is puzzling.

[TailG8er]

Sounds like wheel bearing to me. The right one.

But check the front wheel liners, they can be rubbed by the front tires when turning especially if you run bigger or wider tires.

[Tfocker]

Sounds like wheel bearing to me. The right one.

But check the front wheel liners, they can be rubbed by the front tires when turning especially if you run bigger or wider tires.

That's what another buddy said.. wheel bearing. The wheel liners are already out, so there's no chance it's those. 40K seems really early for a wheel bearing - has anyone else had this happen?

[Tfocker]

I completely forgot to mention that I heard a weird clicking when I backed it out of the garage yesterday. Does that help narrow it down?

[Shredmo]

Is it possible the caliper bolts are slightly too long, touching rotor when turning?

[GM Customer Service]

Yep, I looked over everything and ran my finger over any surface that could possibly have an interference condition. Wheels have plenty of clearance, there's no metal shavings, nothing!
This is puzzling.

Tfocker,

Really sorry to hear about the grinding noise. Let me know if there is anything I may be to assist with. I'd be more than happy to schedule a dealer visit if you continue to experience some issues.

William R.
GM Customer Care

[Napalm]

OP did you take the shields off with the brake upgrade or did you try to bend them out of the way. I'm pretty sure you have to remove the shields. 3 bolts and they're off - so I highly advocate removing them.


I would check that before I start trying to throw a wheel bearing at it. Since those are very spendy and include the ABS sensor (front wheel bearing assemblies).

Also have to ask. Stock wheels and spacers, GXP wheels or ?. Do you have factory studs and lugs or ? if running wheel spacers its possible they aren't 100% flush in and you get a light bump on something and you might need to rubber mallet your wheel spacers or re-tighten your lugs.


Otherwise I too would carefully check those dust shields before putting in a wheel bearing. I have 103K on the clock on my car and I have OE orginal wheel bearings on all 4 corners.

[Tfocker]

Dust shields are on and appear to not be contacting anything. I've got VMR V701's with no spacers and what appears to be plenty of clearance. Aftermarket lugs on stock studs.
For shits n giggles, I may just pull the dust shields.
We checked the front wheel bearings and they seem to be in good shape.
This is quite perplexing.
It's going in for some tuning tomorrow, I'll have them take a look and see if I'm missing something.

[Napalm]

I bet your shields touch only when you turn.

I took mine off anyway, simply because I want to get as much air around the rotors as possible

[mjs001]

Low speed clicking is a fairly common early symptom of a failing wheel bearing. Grinding is a common later stage symptom. Wheel falling off is an extremely late stage symptom.

[STL_G8GT]

Wheel falling off is an extremely late stage symptom.

Lmao whoops.

[Tfocker]

I've now triple checked the dust shields, brake pad squeal tabs and anything else it could be. It's clearly a load sensitive problem. If the car is on a road that is pitched down to the right, the screeching is bad. If it's on a road pitched to the left, it's non-existent.
The low speed clicking happens when I'm backing up.
We'll slap a new bearing in next weekend. Kind of a bummer with only 40K.

[Napalm]

it can happen. not often but they do fail early sometimes.


In other news - consider getting 2 of them. The fronts are easy to replace, just slightly time consuming.

[TailG8er]

I still think wheel bearing. You can take the wheel/tire off and the brake caliper and rotor. Then turn the hub to see if you can feel anything but smooth operation.

If it feels like it is vibrating slightly then replace it. Also try to move it in and out up and down, I doubt you will get this much play but might as well try it out while you are there.

[jbak]

Tfocker..........I have EXACTLY the same issue. I started hearing it a 40-45K, figured maybe it was strut bearing/bushing (nope !).

I think I'll take it to the dealer to get wheel bearings checked.

Sounds like a nasty scraping/rubbing while turning left under just the right side/front loading.

[Shredmo]

It is odd that no one has mentioned LCAs.

[Eidolon]

It is odd that no one has mentioned LCAs.

Not really. Clicking, knocking, or steering wheel wobble would be symptoms of worn LCA's. But a grinding noise isn't on the usual list of symptoms.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Tfocker]

The new wheel bearing arrived yesterday. I'm out of work at 3 and plan to knock it out before dinner. If this doesn't resolve it, I give up.

[jbak]

I'll be very interested to hear the results !!

[STL_G8GT]

The new wheel bearing arrived yesterday. I'm out of work at 3 and plan to knock it out before dinner. If this doesn't resolve it, I give up.

So what's up!?

[Tfocker]

I'm gonna put this car into a wall. The bearing fixed the noise on the front, but now I can hear something from the back wheel.
Front wheel bearing replacement is a piece of cake. Just make sure you have a 10mm allen head socket.
The new sound can be heard when backing up and sounds very similar to the front when it wasn't under a load or in a turn.
I'm going out there to take the rear wheel off and see what's going on right now. Ugh.

[Tfocker]

100% Success! My issues were: 1. a bad wheel bearing in the right front. 2. A small piece of something from the old parking brake that must have been overlooked during the CTS-V brake swap. I have no more grinding or screeching!

[STL_G8GT]

100% Success! My issues were: 1. a bad wheel bearing in the right front. 2. A small piece of something from the old parking brake that must have been overlooked during the CTS-V brake swap. I have no more grinding or screeching!

Congrats dude, that's awesome!!!

[jbak]

Great... I will either swap my front bearings or have the dealer look at it. THANKS !

[TailG8er]

Sweet!

I should be out on Woodward tonight if you want something to do.

[Tfocker]

Sweet!

I should be out on Woodward tonight if you want something to do.

Doh! I was out on Friday. Ahh well, next weekend we'll do it all over again!

[TailG8er]

Doh! I was out on Friday. Ahh well, next weekend we'll do it all over again!

Sounds good, met up with about 6 other G8's. They just seemed to multiply all the sudden.