grinding noise from front right wheel

[castigan]

ok. ive got a weird grinding noise coming from my right front wheel. its very random, very hard to sometimes purposely recreate, basically when i and traveling fairly slow, and use harder than normal braking, there is a grinding noise just before the vehicle comes to a full stop. all brake pads are good, and have been re-checked. it sounds like.. well.. im not sure how to describe it, but its very odd. like a long continuous deep grinding noise....

anyone got any ideas ???

[tomdietrying]

Hmmmmm, my guess might be a small rock that is stuck in between your break pad and your rotor. This happened to one of the guys in Moab a couple of years back. It show be a pretty easy fix if that's what it ends up being.
Peace.
Tom

[cyronman]

I've experienced this twice before on my Subaru's...both times it's been bearings.
I'd get those checked.

[castigan]

yeah i thought bearings too, finally managed to get it to make the noise for my mechanic today.. he says its the suspension bushes creaking up from being to dry.

[Riff Raff]

Hmmm; since the sound is isolated just to the right-front wheel assembly and is intermittent, it quite possibly could be a small stone/pebble caught inbetween the brake pad/disc. Take your VX to a self-service car wash with a high pressure sprayer nozzel and spray the hell out of the front brake disc at point-blank range.

In addition, find a big empty parking lot at a K-Mart/Wal-Mart and "back-up" in reverse for a considerable distance (watch out for the street light poles). This may free-up the stubborn stone/pebble, as it continues to wedge itself while going forward.

If these couple of tricks don't work, then you'll have to remove the wheel and pinpoint the culprit.

[castigan]

def not a stone, a very different kind of noise..... and possibly, not only from right front wheel...... if i had to guess, id think it was a hose rubbing against something... thats the kind of noise it is.. but my mechanic seems to think its suspension bushes.. and that i should give them some lube.

[Riff Raff]

Ok, in that case just crank-up your stereo louder. Problem solved.

[Sprey]

Wonder what suspension bushes.

im gonna change my front sway bar bushings to the greasable type alot of people on here use,

Just importing them can be a problem

[castigan]

im going to lube up all bushes this weekend, ill start at the front and work my way back. ill post which ones i think it is.

[castigan]

all bushes have been lubed... mechanic has been under there are says they are fine.. then he tells me the noise is just suspension creaking... its driving me nuts.. its really a hard grinding noise... and i think its wheel bearings.. but the mechanic says you would hear the noise all the time if it was, not just when on the brakes....

[JNUVX]

This may be the same issue as originally posted, but I haven't tested the powerwashing or reversing methods yet.
It's very hard to recreate the noise as stated previously, and the VX doesn't make the noise all the time. Also, it doesn't seem to be limited what speed i'm travelling except that if it doesn't start grinding/rattling from a complete stop, then it won't start making noise after I have begun accelerating/am up to speed. Any help is much appreciated thank you!

[castigan]

sorry, update guys, noise was from crap between the brake pads and the discs.... new pads, problem solved.

[JNUVX]

Dropped the vx off to my mech today..
When I went to pick it up he said they pulled off all 4 tires and couldn't find anything in betwixt the pads/rotors...and of course, didn't charge me for the service. I'm wondering what the noise could be. Should I be worried?!?

[CowboyErik]

I got the same problem, got brakes aparts, was told that semi metalic brake pads on slotted rotors would be bad, I just put ceramics on it tonite, no change, I think it's the rear brakes, its just fooling me when I drive it and break, strange, that when I use the parking breake the grinding doesn't reproduce but I think the parking break engages differently; what the heck; I had a front wheel bearings repacked last year, I jsut don't see how that could be it, when I have the car up in the air, there doesn't seem to be any significant play

[Chopper]

parking brake is nothing but a mini-drum brake in the hub of the rear wheel. It doesn't use the same pads as the service brakes....it uses tiny brake shoes inside the hub