Front Grinding While Turning Right

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Cynthia Grant

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Joined
Apr 21, 2003
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Location
Ossining, NY
I have a 2003 w/ about 112K miles. Last night while driving on horribly bumpy NYC streets, the ST suddenly started making a grinding/scraping noise when turning right. It sounded terrible, but the truck seemed to be running fine. By the time I got home (about 30 miles on the highway), the noise had gone away. Today also it seems fine. Anyone have any thoughts? I don't want to ignore this. The truck has never made such a noise the in past.



I'm certainly not a mechanic, but I got down and looked under the front end and around the tires, just in case. I didn't see anything that was obviously broken or hanging off. And it passed that handy common sense test: Everything on the problem (right) side looked just like the OK (left) side, so it must be fine, right?



Anyway, thanks for any suggestions. I like to be armed with some possible answers before taking it in to the repair shop.

 


If the abs light comes on then that would be an indication that one the front wheel Bearings have failed. The front wheel bearing races and the abs sensor "tone" ring are part of the same assembly. When my front wheel bearings failed the abs light came on as the bad bearings ate the tone ring.



Sounds more like a C/V joint to me if its a 4x4 truck. Not sure the best way to check one... I would check the rubber boots around the half shafts and see if they are torn up or if grease is spewed about.



If you have very big tires i could just be rubbing against the wheel well.



hope this helps... keep on trac'n:banana:

-Don D.
 
The famous wheel bearing failure. ABS lights will not always illuminate when the bearing fails. It likley will never light since it is not a braking issue and is can still spin.
 
Thanks! If it is the wheel bearing or C/V joint, is it normal for the grinding sound to come and go? I can't wait to see the repair bill for this one - first major repair since the extended warranty expired. :cry:
 


If the abs light comes on then that would be an indication that one the front wheel Bearings have failed. The front wheel bearing races and the abs sensor "tone" ring are part of the same assembly. When my front wheel bearings failed the abs light came on as the bad bearings ate the tone ring.



Sounds more like a C/V joint to me if its a 4x4 truck. Not sure the best way to check one... I would check the rubber boots around the half shafts and see if they are torn up or if grease is spewed about.



If you have very big tires i could just be rubbing against the wheel well.



hope this helps... keep on trac'n:banana:

-Don D.
 
If it is the wheel bearing or C/V joint, is it normal for the grinding sound to come and go?
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Yes, usually the first sign of a CV joint failure is noise when turning when the stress is greatest.
 
If you where on a rough road it could also be something as simple as a rock getting stuck in the brakes, between the brake shield etc.... If it's a bearing it will definately come back and probably louder.
 
The CV joint has stress on it when ever the vehicle is moving. The bearing will make noise when turning one direction but not the other. I can almost guarantee your CV axles are fine, the only way to damage them is by offroading them and pulling them apart. I have rebuilt my CV's in the past and when you see what how they are made you will realize they are hard to damage with normal driving.
 
The CV joint has stress on it when ever the vehicle is moving. The bearing will make noise when turning one direction but not the other. I can almost guarantee your CV axles are fine, the only way to damage them is by offroading them and pulling them apart. I have rebuilt my CV's in the past and when you see what how they are made you will realize they are hard to damage with normal driving.
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Not true, this truck has over 112,000 miles, everything wears. It is true stress occurs whenever the vehicle is moving, however when the vehicle is turning stress increases. If only off-roading damages CV joints then why do Corollas, Civics, and every other front wheel drive vehicle need to replace them. The very structure of a CV joint involves a ball bearing placed inside a steel race surrounded by a metal cage. Wear is inevitable...
 
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Cindy, Just off the wall, but could it be snow/ice/debris packed up in the wheel well rubbing when turning? (and then after the 30 minutes on the highway, it cleared itself out some?)



This would account for it not making the noise after you got home and today...
 
Dave, no it's not snow or anything in the wheel well. I got under there and looked around and couldn't see any obstruction. The sound is definitely coming from the left front tire area whenever I make a hard turn to the right. The grinding sound is also sort of pulsating and seems to be in sync with the rotation of the tires (pulsating slows down or speeds up in relation to how fast I'm going). The sound goes away after the wheels have been straightened back out for a few minutes. Turning left does not cause the noise.



If it's a CV joint or bearing going bad, how urgently does it need to be repaired? Am I damaging it by continuing to drive on it?



Thanks!

 
If it's a CV joint or bearing going bad, how urgently does it need to be repaired? Am I damaging it by continuing to drive on it?
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Yes, the bearing could sieze and the CV joint could disintegrate, and leave you stranded.
 
The sound is definitely coming from the left front tire area whenever I make a hard turn to the right. The grinding sound is also sort of pulsating and seems to be in sync with the rotation of the tires (pulsating slows down or speeds up in relation to how fast I'm going). The sound goes away after the wheels have been straightened back out for a few minutes. Turning left does not cause the noise.
Click to expand...



That is the bearing! I dont care what anyone on here says.. If for some strange and extremely uncommon reason you damaged a heavy duty CV axle, it would squeal all the time. When you turn right you are putting a load on the left side bearing. And when you turn left you are transferring the weight to right side which takes the load off the bad bearing which makes the sound go away. Go to Autozone and get a Timken wheel bearing that has a warranty. Do not go to a dealership and pay more and get no warranty.
 
If for some strange and extremely uncommon reason you damaged a heavy duty CV axle, it would squeal all the time.
Click to expand...



CV joints don't just "squeal" all the time when bad, there are other symptons. And when the joint is bad, you will hear it when turning in the opposite direction.
 
I am going to listen to the advice in my signature and sign off on this thread..



Good Luck CindyG..
 
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