Strange Wheel Noise

[98legacy22stick]

I recently noticed a noise coming from my right front wheel when driving at speeds of ~25MPH and below. It sounds like combination of a squeaking serpentine belt and the sound of driving on a flat tire. This noise will occur in gear, out of gear, brakes applied or unapplied, turning, or going straight. It will only go away under 2 circumstances: when I exceed 25MPH, or when I abruptly and momentarily steer to the right, the noise will briefly disappear while the car is "off balance". Also, this noise is only present after driving for some time ~10 minutes.

I verified that I have adequate tire pressure and no excessive play in the wheel bearing or any bushing. The axle on that side is new as of 2 months ago. The tires have 60,000 miles on them and are very near the limits on treadwear. My best guess is that this is the sound of a tire wearing out /getting ready for a blowout the next time I take it on the highway. I have never experienced that condition first hand so I cannot say for sure. Anyone agree with my tire theory, or is something else I could look at?

[fishbone79]

If the replacement axle was of dubious quality (e.g., autozone, advanced auto, napa, etc.) then it would be my suspect number one, barring any other egregious issues up there... I had a pair of cheapo axles in my car that started making noise after about 300 miles. I replaced them with quality OEM remanufactured axles from Constant Velocity of Ocala (http://www.cvaxles.com/). 20k later and not a peep, those cheap axles are not worth it at all. Many people on the forum have gone through CVO and been very happy.

[98legacy22stick]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the new Axle is from autozone. Although, with my understanding of the internals of a CV joint and how it operates, I'm having trouble picturing how it can be the source of the sound I am describing

[98legacy22stick]

Update: I did some troubleshooting today. It seems like the noise appears after braking relatively hard. Then the noise will go away as speed above 20MPH is reached. It is almost as though something is sticking, but I removed and reinstalled both passenger side wheels, brake calipers, pads and rotors. Nothing seemed abnormal about the hardware and the noise persisted afterwards. I also drove in some very tight circles in a parking lot to see if I could get the noise to appear and relate it to the CV joint, which I was unable to do. At this point, since the hardware looks OK and drivability is not affected, I'll try and let this problem be until it either gets better, or worse and easier to troubleshoot. Unless someone else has any suggestions for things to look at.

[98legacy22stick]

Another Update: I had to take one more shot at fixing it since I was able to correlate the noise with occuring more frequently when the brakes are hot. The noise does not go away after having applied and released the brakes, or is related to the applied braking force. It just kind of appears as the car slows to 20MPH. I once again took the front right brake off and reapplied antisqueal to the pads and made sure the pads were poperly installed, which they were. This had no impact. I also rotated my tires to ensure that the noise wasn't tire related. No change.... Although a bad driveshaft was suggested above, this noise does not sound anything like a failing drive shaft. It sounds like 2 things rubbing together and is correlated to wheel speed and will occur when going straight. Aside from the brakes, the only hardware in the wheel area that make rubbing contact when the car is moving are the wheel seals. Since the problem is so intermittant and my wheel bearing has no play which I can detect, I'm guessing the seals are still good. The sound also seems too "rubbery" for a wheel seal.

[fishbone79]

Are your motor and trans mounts in good condition? No free play making stuff slop around when bogged? A failing trans mount will cause a noise like that... but again, from axles slopping around. It usually happens when decelerating down a hill, or accelerating from a turn, but not usually above 40 mph or so (in my experience).

I can think of about 30 different noises "typical" of front axles.... the ones I had to replace did not make a noise that I thought was at all typical of a messed up axle.

[Legacy777]

What size wheels do you have? Do you have hub caps or alloy wheels?

Can you describe the noise any better? How do the cv boots look? Do they look stretched, or are the pleats real close together?

[kimokalihi]

I'll try and let this problem be until it either gets better

Hahaha.

[98legacy22stick]

Haha. Yea, It probably won't go away but I try to be optimistic..... I have 14" Stock steel wheels with hubcaps. CV boots look fine. Both front axles are new. The noise sounds like you're driving slowly on a flat tire with a higher pitched squeak that seems to occur once per wheel revolution. Over the past few days, it has been noticably cooler ie 70 instead of 90. On the cooler days, the noise does not appear. I'm going to swap out the CV axle on that side, which I had recently replaced, and see what happens the next time it gets warm.

[Legacy777]

I'd probably start with the CV axle, but for kicks & giggles, remove the hub caps and see if the noise goes away.

It may be a long shot, but I've heard some weird noises come from hub caps.

[98legacy22stick]

Well, I replaced the CV axle before I read your post. The good news is the noise is gone. I still can't figure out what would make that kind of noise and how it relates to any CV hardware. Maybe something with the boot....

[Legacy777]

Who knows.....I've had some very weird vibration occur due to CV axles. It was intermittent and very violent.