Help Diagnose —DS front wheel noise - wheel bearing? (1 Viewer)

[onemudder]

Hey guys, very annoying “sissing” noise coming out of my front driver side wheel. Happens at all speeds but seems to lessen when applying brakes.

Tried to hit the gas while applying brakes to see if it was the motion speed or the actual application of the brakes and couldn’t tell.

I just replaced the wheel bearing on my other LC but it doesn’t seem like it’s any of those parts (loose hub lock nut etc). I once had the lock nut come loose and it was clinking in the lock nut cap very loudly but it’s not that.

I thought about taking the wheel off and hitting any rusty parts with cleaner/ lubricant but wanted to hit the boards here first.

It’s pretty faint but loud enough to have onlookers turn heads to see what’s up. And super annoying.


Here’s a link to the actual noise from my window. Excuse the background wind noise. Be aware that the volume of the noise here is due to passing say a wall or something which enhances the sound.

Link to wind noise Play, not necessary to download



Thanks in advance!

 

[TheForger]

FYI it's asking to request access when I try to view that video

 

[onemudder]

It’s just a sound file. I updated permissions just now. Tysm !

 

[Mike NXP]

It’s just a sound file. I updated permissions just now. Tysm !

It'll be a guessing game unless you can get the wheel in the air and spin it. Kind of sounds like brakes may just be getting low / rubbing / something like that.
>>A good hint you gave was the noise changes when hitting the brakes. Pretty good chance the noise is brake related but you'll need to check it all over.



Jack it up, spin the tire. If the noise is still there well you can narrow it down pretty quickly.

If the noise isn't there when turning the tire, well hmm then it would be something deeper in that isn't spinning...

Or just wind noise? Hard to tell from the audio recording.


To eliminate wheel bearing as a culprit , find a nice wide open parking lot or nice road curves and drive about 20-30 mph. When turning hard left, if the noise gets louder it will relate to the right side of the vehicle. Oppposite theory when turning right, all the weight shifts and the bearing will get louder....usually.

 

[onemudder]

Thanks so much. Some really good info for me to check. I will report back!

 

[Land Shark]

Check the bottom ball joint cotter pin. Last time I was in there replacing brakes etc I did not bend mine back up enough and it had a slight drag on the inside of the wheel. Can check without lifting vehicle. HTH and good luck

 

[2001LC]

Hey guys, very annoying “sissing” noise coming out of my front driver side wheel. Happens at all speeds but seems to lessen when applying brakes.

8 out of 10 times, brake pad wear indicator.

 

[onemudder]

Thanks to everyone’s tips.

It ended up being the brake pads with the DS worse than the PS. They weren’t totally worn but maybe had a 1/4 inch left.

However, the pairs weren’t worn evenly which led me to have the mechanic check the wheel bearings and sure enough there was a good amount of play on both wheels.
So bearings gotta get replaced.

On top of that they showed me that the brake calipers need to be rebuilt since the pads were having trouble going in.

So the front end wheels look to get some maintenance attention along with a change of brake fluid in order.

With the pass changed the sound is gone. Thanks!