Horrible Grinding From Rear Wheel

**anmagro** · 01-05-2009 01:28 PM

O Dear lord there is this horrible grinding sound coming from my pass. rear wheel. i noticed it when i was in neutral coasting with the windows down. The Grinding speeds up with the wheel speed. Its a grinding/slicing sound. It doesnt matter if the car is off, in neutral or in gear on or off the gas. it still makes this grinding sound. sometimes it fades away a little but sometimes its SO loud. Also, i notice that when im on my brakes i hear a 'worn pad' or 'worn rotor' grinding sound from the same wheel. Connected? Questions comments concerns? Please help. btw, my inspector said i need new rotors when its time to do my brakes...there split and rusting around the edges.

ps. its dead ass cold here. and wet. and frozen if that makes a diff.

help.

**cab7a4** · 01-05-2009 02:00 PM

Honestly, it sounds like a wheel bearing. I had the same sound that your are describing, it trrned out to be a wheel bearing as well, the louder the noise, the worse off that bearing is. Hope this helped

**jrodpikap** · 01-05-2009 02:32 PM

Yeah, it definately sounds like the rear hub bearing...i'm surprised you didn't notice it before it got to that point though, it makes a progressively louder and louder vibrating sound before it gets to that point...where it is completely metal on metal.

**anmagro** · 01-05-2009 06:08 PM

I have had squeeky wheel bearings for maby the past 7months. Is that really what it is? Cause when im on the brakes i get another grinding sound that most likley has to be the rotors.

**B5A4Kevin** · 01-05-2009 06:31 PM

if when you are on the brakes it causes a different or second grinding noise, then you need a wheel bearing as well as pads and rotors. the grinding noise that happens when accelerating/coasting is the wheel bearing. try turning the wheel from one side to another while coasting on a traffic free road at high way speeds. if it is louder when turning the wheel left, then it is the right bearing, and vice versa. also if you can lift up the vehicle and spin the wheels, do so while feeling on that wheels spring and suspension components. the faulty wheel bearing will cause a grinding/rubbing/vibrating sensation that will travel through the suspension.

a visual inspection should be performed if it hasnt been done already to address the brake concern, but remember that on some cars, the inner pads wear more than the outer; so even if you have a few mm's on the outside, you could be metal on metal on the inners. hope this helps. peace.

**miked** · 02-03-2009 05:19 PM

I am having the exact same issues as you are...I searched and found this and it's like I wrote it myself. I am also dealing with the freezing cold weather (-18 degrees F).

The unbelievably loud squealing noise has only happened twice for me, but when it happens it makes my ears bleed. Other times, I just have an annoying grinding/whirring/squeaking noise from my front right wheel.

I just replaced my rear wheel bearings recently, and seeing as they usually go out around the same time, I'm gonna go ahead and agree with the consensus that it is a wheel bearing. I'm taking it in this weekend, I can't stand the noise any longer!

I'll get back with the results if you haven't already fixed the problem (I'm just seeing now that the original post was about a month ago).

**EuRoSp1c** · 02-03-2009 05:25 PM

deffffffff wheel bearing

**wesleyfbm** · 02-03-2009 07:25 PM

im actually haveing the same problem. but i know its my wheel bearing and so im in the process of fixin that, tomarro should be done.

lift the wheel with your ebrake off and try to wiggle the wheel. mine had a little play in it.

was my rear passenger too. usually thats the one to go first due to shitty edges of the road.

**h4robkr123** · 02-04-2009 07:00 AM

It's definitely the wheel bearing, but like said before it's weird that you've gotten that far for it to be very loud. Lucky enough it's one of the cheaper fixes for out cars though.

**anmagro** · 04-25-2009 06:07 PM

FOUND IT. ITS NOT THE WHEEL BEARING....

So, i was with my tech the other day checkin out the car. Ends up that it was just the ROTOR GUARD rubbing against my rear rotors in the back! The guy that did my breaks must have bent it. My tech saw the prob. and just bent the rotor guard back with his hand. Sound is gone! haha. I was so happy today. God bless a good tech man.

1. Have Good people do your brakes in the first place!
2. If you have this sound...check the dust guards behind your rotors!
3. Find a good tech! They will save you thousands!

For a GREAT reference....From the Audi Tech's Mouth....

When you have a bad wheel bearing your car should.....
1. Make 'the noise' when one end of the car is jacked up, and the wheel with the 'bad bearing' is spun freely.
2. Make the noise LOUDER when you are up the speed, rather than more noise at low speeds.
3. Your control arms should "vibrate" slightly when you spin the wheel (freely) that is supposed to have a bad wheel bearing.
4. A 'grinding' noise rather than a 'chirping' noise meens that a wheel bearing is close to failure.

**adrenaline486** · 04-30-2009 08:33 PM

Had the same problem sorta but it ended up being a rock got caught between the rotor and rotor guard. Sounded like death driving down the road. Luckily I found it myself and didn't have to pay someone 60 bucks for 10 minutes of work.