Front end noise question

[riverfever]

I know it's not XJ but I figured I'd ask about a noise I'm hearing on my 2012 Liberty. I first noticed it about a month and a half ago. I was going down a hill, carrying speed (~40mph) and making a gradual right hand turn. I hear a scraping noise that sounds like it's coming from driver's front. Sounds metallic and definitely rotational. It is not effected by braking. I can make the noise happen whenever I want. Coming up the Pass if I turn pretty hard on the right handers it will do it but if I take it easy and slow down it won't do it. Does not happen in a parking lot so you have to be carrying some speed and maybe have a bit of body roll. This makes me think that something is flexing and then making contact with something else. 40k on the Jeep. Noise happened before I boosted the front with a clevis lift. Tires are 245/70/16 (stock is 235) so just a hair larger. I've gone back and re-torqued all bolts that were involved in the clevis lift. CV boot looks fine. No splits, tears and no grease anywhere. I posted on Jeep Forum but only got one reply. Power steering fluid is topped off. Brake caliper bolts are torqued correctly. One theory over there was wheel bearing. I would have thought that if it were a drivers side bearing (and I know that sounds can appear to be coming from one area when they are really originating somewhere else) that loading up the bearing with weight while making a right hand turn would quiet it down. Someone over there said while that test works on cars it does not work on 4x4's. I fail to see how 4x4 over front wheel drive or AWD would make a difference. 40k also seems really early for a wheel bearing to go.

Any ideas on what could be making the noise? I am running the stock sway bars. Thanks.

 

[rockfrog]

Could you have tweaked the dust shield a little? Maybe the forces are just enough to have the rotor rub the shield.

 

[trippled]

Usually loading the wheel bearing makes the sound louder. While I've had a few cars not true to that, I'd be willing to bet you've got a bad wheel bearing. It may or may not have play in it. You are correct in that it is not different from a car to a truck or SUV. If you take the bearing off and spin it, sometimes you can feel the roughness.

 

[riverfever]

Could you have tweaked the dust shield a little? Maybe the forces are just enough to have the rotor rub the shield.

That's exactly what it sounds like but the dust shield is not bent and grabbing onto things I can't see how it would flex and make contact with the rotor.

 

[riverfever]

Usually loading the wheel bearing makes the sound louder. While I've had a few cars not true to that, I'd be willing to bet you've got a bad wheel bearing. It may or may not have play in it. You are correct in that it is not different from a car to a truck or SUV. If you take the bearing off and spin it, sometimes you can feel the roughness.

Sadly, this is what I keep coming back to. Did I recall things opposite of what they should be when thinking about noises a bad bearing produces when loaded vs. unloaded? The other weird thing is that this is the only noise I hear. All the other times I can recall dealing with a bad wheel bearing (which granted is not a ton of experience) it's always presented itself as a moan that gets louder with speed and is also impacted by loading/unloading it. There is zero play in the wheel at 12 and 6 but maybe this is just the very early stages of wear?

 

[rockfrog]

I left out.... if the wheel bearing had any slop,...maybe the forces on it are allowing the rotor to come in contact with the shield. I had that happen on one of my XJ's.

Have you pulled the rotor off that side yet?

I was eating talking and typing at the same time. My brain can only handle 1 task at at a time, and it should have been focused on eating.

 

[time2getdirty]

no grease anywhere.

Think I found your problem.

 

[Kittrell]

Think I found your problem.

I am sure this was sarcasm, but in case not. Everything on that KK is going to be sealed, he is not going to have visible grease on anything unless there is a problem.

 

[riverfever]

I looked all around the dust shield and don't see any fresh metal that you might expect to see from it contacting the rotor. And I have not pulled the rotor off. Do't hear any crunchy sounds when spinning the wheel and don't feel anything abnormal when doing so with the wheel off.

And yes...I'm assuming the grease comment was sarcasm as DJ is right. At some point (before I bought it) the passenger outer CV gave up and flung grease everywhere. DJ you can imagine the horror when I saw that old mess. :shiver:

Thinking about getting an infrared thermometer and seeing if there's a difference between the temps on the back of the hub area where that bearing would be on both sides and see if that points towards a bearing issue.

 

[Kittrell]

DJ you can imagine the horror when I saw that old mess. :shiver:

 

[md21722]

Usually loading the wheel bearing makes the sound louder. While I've had a few cars not true to that, I'd be willing to bet you've got a bad wheel bearing. It may or may not have play in it. You are correct in that it is not different from a car to a truck or SUV. If you take the bearing off and spin it, sometimes you can feel the roughness.

Yep, so steering right would make the left sound louder. Wheel bearings can act strange, some will have some slop and drive fine and be quiet, others can be tight and make noise. Its safe to change one with only 40,000. If it was a high mileage vehicle I'd change both as often a new part against an old part will make the other one fail pretty quick. Anymore I'd go with Timken or SKF as a replacement, Auto Zone, NAPA, or your online store of choice.

 

[riverfever]

Hahaha!! That's exactly it!! I remember when you and Troyscout came over once and I had the white 96 torn apart to put on a new exhaust manifold and I had cleaned everything and it was soooooo spotless. The look on Troy's face when he asked about the cleanliness was awesome.

 

[riverfever]

Yep, so steering right would make the left sound louder. Wheel bearings can act strange, some will have some slop and drive fine and be quiet, others can be tight and make noise. Its safe to change one with only 40,000. If it was a high mileage vehicle I'd change both as often a new part against an old part will make the other one fail pretty quick. Anymore I'd go with Timken or SKF as a replacement, Auto Zone, NAPA, or your online store of choice.

Ok...I had it opposite then. Thank you very much guys. One last question...could that bad bearing also cause the steering wheel to shimmy ever so slightly some of the time? Sometimes I think it's the road surface but then it will go and do it on new asphalt.

 

[md21722]

Ok...I had it opposite then. Thank you very much guys. One last question...could that bad bearing also cause the steering wheel to shimmy ever so slightly some of the time? Sometimes I think it's the road surface but then it will go and do it on new asphalt.

Yes.