Wheel Noise? Help Diagnose this Noise Please! Video included

[Joszer]

Hey Everyone,

I need your help here. I have been noticing over the past 2 weeks a particular noise that comes out of my front left wheel. It sounds like a clicking sound. It only really happens when I turn left and occasionally when I turn right. At first I thought it may have been a loose caliper, maybe the rotor rubbing against a pad when the hub would flex under turning. I took the wheels off and made sure that all my bolts were right, I even went through the hassle of re-lubing up all the pistons on the calipers to make sure that they didn't squeak. The swaybar endlinks are nice and tight and the bushings that hold the swaybar are tight and lubed up as well. My alignment is spot on, as I just had it redone about 3 weeks ago and the bolts that hold the strut in place as well as the nuts that hold the strut hat in the tower in place are within spec as well. I do have the 6 point brace from James, and all the bolts that hold it down are torqued down. I first started to hear this noise when I would park at work in the parking garage. Today I noticed that the noise got worse, so when I got home this morning I decided to strap my GoPro camera to the Fender to identify the characteristics of this noise and hopefully be able to hone in on the issue. The interesting thing is that the noise only appears when the steering wheel is turned, when the wheels are straight, the noise is gone.

[video=youtube_share;ubfpQhCEtno]http://youtu.be/ubfpQhCEtno[/video]

Thanks for the help,

Jose

 

[westcoaST]

1. Check inside your wheel, inside the hub where the cover attaches to the wheel. Pull of the cover, check for rocks. Then, if none.
2. Try your drive around without the cover back on.
3. If you still get the clicks, take it to your Ford dealer for an exam of your half shafts and hub bearings.

 

[Joszer]

1. Check inside your wheel, inside the hub where the cover attaches to the wheel. Pull of the cover, check for rocks. Then, if none.
2. Try your drive around without the cover back on.
3. If you still get the clicks, take it to your Ford dealer for an exam of your half shafts and hub bearings.

No rocks in there, =/. I pulled the wheels off the other day to examine them in my garage. I'll probably take it in on my next day off. Not looking forward to taking it to the dealership. I can just imagine all the warranty excuses I am going to get because of the mods I have done to my car. I jacked the car up and spun the wheel while the steering wheel was locked all the way to the left and didn't get the noise. It seems to do it only when the suspension is loaded.

Weird...

 

[dyn085]

Check and see if your CV boots are torn. A lot of 'turning-only' noises (especially when it gradually gets worse over time) originate from a torn boot losing grease.

 

[BryanD]

How much clearance do you have between your calipers/brackets and your wheels? Reason I ask is because I've seen this exact problem on a FiST with aftermarket wheels. Does it get more noticeable when you hit the accelerator while turning?

Take your front wheels off and look for TINY marks where the bracket may be slightly smacking the wheel. Could be something a 5mm spacer fixes.

 

[FORZDA 2]

It doesn't sound like CV joints to me. It sounds like brakes to me. Don't the Wilwood rotors float on the carriers? Floating rotors can make all sorts of noises when the brake dust collects around the buttons.

 

[Joszer]

Check and see if your CV boots are torn. A lot of 'turning-only' noises (especially when it gradually gets worse over time) originate from a torn boot losing grease.

[video]youtu.be/n8Wm0YIMJZ8[/video]

 

[Joszer]

So I lubed up my swaybar bushings, and lubed up the hubcentric rings for my wheels and the centering ring for the rotors, cleaned off all brake dust off the calipers, and retorqued every bolt down again and the noise is gone!