HELP! Can't Figure Out This Sound! ><

[McLoven1t562]

Hey everyone, I did try searching around for similar issue but it was very difficult and couldn't quite find anything.

So over the past month I've been doing an 80 mile round trip commute for work and only at highway speeds 65+ will I either hear it once, or hear several times during my drive. It's coming from the driver front tire and best way I can describe the sound is that it almost sounds like the tire is making contact with the inner wheel wells plastic liner whenever there's a slight drop on the road, so the suspension compresses real quick and immediately hear a quick noise from the driver front tire n then immediately goes away.

Only twice have I heard the same sound for a few seconds as I go around a very slight curve in the freeway and it scares the scrap out of me. I originally thought maybe it was my torn up ball joint at my upper control arm, but I finally got around to replacing the uppers and lowers due to the overall condition of my bushings and the noise is still present.

Some folks have said it's my wheel bearing but I personally just don't understand how or why a wheel bearing would be doing this only when the vehicle is going down a small dip on the freeway and never when I'm simply driving on a leveled surface. Don't hear the typical sounds I know you get from wheel bearings.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. =]

 

[Brutus H]

Could your plastic inner fender be loose and sagging when there are 65+ MPH winds whippin it?

 

[McLoven1t562]

Could your plastic inner fender be loose and sagging when there are 65+ MPH winds whippin it?

Nope, I tripled checked that bad boy and all the clips are secure and I don't see any signs of rubbing. it also has plenty of clearance. I'm ready to tear my front end apart lol

 

[phattyduck]

How about engine fan and fan shroud?

-Charlie

 

[GhostRing]

Is it loud & repeatable enough to get a half-decent recording of it?

 

[McLoven1t562]

Is it loud & repeatable enough to get a half-decent recording of it?

loud, yes...to record it is incredibly difficult because like I stated. It only happens when the road drops a bit and you hear it for a split second when the front end dips.

 

[McLoven1t562]

How about engine fan and fan shroud?

-Charlie

fan assembly is less then 2 years old and very secure. It definitely sound like something suspension related since it happens mostly when the front end dips down at high speeds but now that my upper and lower arms were replaced, i'm running out of things to think of. Close to just replacing the wheel hub assembly only to try and eliminate the possibility lol

 

[2TH4IST]

Jack up the front end and test the wheel bearings. Bad bearings have play, in a dip it might be exaggerated and thus the noise. Or the brake rotor dust shield hitting the rotor.

Or if it's 4wd it could be the inner knuckle bearing seal rubbing on the cv. I had that but only when I drove slowly.

Could it be the tire rubbing on the upper control arm?

There are a ton of things it could be. Could also be from a different area of the car all together.

Similar story time. Back when I worked for vw, had a new toureg make a squeaking sound only when we made a left turn with a dip. On a specific freeway on ramp. Long story short it was faulty fron wheel bearings allowing the rotors to hit the dust shields. Also, never drive with customers, they are psycho!