Wheel "clacking/clicking" while spinning

[elduderino200]

Driving home on the highway last night when I started noticing a "clicking" coming from the drivers side front wheel. Also a bit of vibration.

Made it home and jacked up the wheel and I could re-create the sound myself just by turning the wheel:



If it makes a difference, when it started I was hauling some furniture on the roof rack. Much more weight than this car is used to...

Any help or insight is much appreciated.


1999 A4 2.8 V6 AHA
163k+

[bhusted]

Sounds like a failed CV joint to me. Have you looked at the inner and outer CV boots?

[elduderino200]

very briefly. the inner one is intact, but it sounds like it's coming from the outside anyway.

[elduderino200]

I got home and checked the boots. Both seem not only intact, but the whole axle seems shiny new.
It's very possible the shop I took it to took pity on me when I had an entire clutch replacement come as a surprise (@ $2,200). If I'm not mistaken, both axles need to be removed so there's a possibility they noticed one was bad put a better one in. My theory anyway.

What are the chances it IS a bearing?

[bhusted]

It's not unheard of for reman aftermarket axles to be of poor quality. Front wheel bearing failures are much more rare than rear, but like any mechanical part, they are subject to wear. Is there any play in the wheel? Lift the wheel and try to push/pull on it to feel any play.

[elduderino200]

No play anywhere. Just the clacking at every turn on the turn. Also sounds like a bit of rubbing but that's probably just the pads. I'll take the wheel off tomorrow and check anything that looks suspicious. Is there a better way to confirm the CV joint? (Or bearing)

Thanks for the help!

[vrmm]

I've never heard a wheel bearing do that. Just grind. My reman axles have 60k on them and my dads allroad around 40k. Just saying they aren't as shitty as everyone thinks, but it could be your problem ;)
More often than not i've found boots to be intact when they've needing to be replaced on audi's. The noise doesn't scream cv to me, but i'd definitely start there. It's the only thing that would make sense.
If it was me, I would push down on the axle shaft with something and see if the tone changes.

[elduderino200]

Is there a consensus on where the best place to buy an axle?

[crazyquik22023]

My vote is for outer cv joint.

[MrSnickelsnizer]

Outer CV joint.

[vrmm]

I just buy import direct from oriellys. Raxles are the bees knees or so is said. They're expensive though. 65$ vs 400?$. Not really sure how much they are..

Buying the cheapest from autozone will work just fine, but you'll have to take it back off once you find out they had the wrong axle in the box.
Ecs is ungodly overpriced, so also consider that when you buy :p

[elduderino200]

Well false alarm.

I took everything apart, all the way down to the hub. Wheel off, brakes off, including rotor and carrier. I tried spinning the hub by hand but I couldn't re-create the noise so i figured it was the weight of the wheel. Bolted the wheel directly onto the hub and spun it again, but still nothing.

Put everything back together, re-spun, nothing. Took it for a test drive, nothing.

I'm happy it's "nothing" but I'm concerned it's "nothing". 'Hopefully' just a loose bolt or a tab folded in.

In any event, thanks for everybody's help!

(And yes, I understand raxles are the best too, including lifetime warranty? But I also heard ~$200. Never called so I never got a real quote.)

[elduderino200]

Just going back and clearing out old issues...


Not a false alarm, it came back after a while.

Indeed it was the CV joint. Replaced the whole axle and it's gone. Thanks for the insight everyone!