Front Grinding Noise

mawint · November 7, 2011

So today I drove my truck to work and am hearing a grinding noise up front on slow left turns. I have been doing some searching and googling and have seen people who have replaced half shafts, wheel hub, differential bearings, also that the crossmember may need to be slotted. I have also heard that if it was a wheel hub they usually hum, I haven't heard any humming and from what I have read, if the sound is coming from a left hand turn that it would most likely mean that it is the front right hub that could be the culprit. The problem is though, is that it sounds like it is coming from the front left.

Anyone know any solutions to the best way of diagnosing this? I usually try to repair things myself that are within reason before taking it to a shop.

I took a quick visual peek today when I got to work and didn't see anything visually broken or bent.

Thanks for the help.

Also if it helps, awhile back I had this problem: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...c=135305&hl= but it magically went away when I took it to the shop.

spankrz · November 7, 2011

sounds like the front left hub is shot to me. jack it up as grab the tire at 10 and 2, shake it back and fourth. if there is any play, it is the culprit. i would check other side too for extra assurance.

mawint · November 7, 2011

I will definately check that out. Don't they usually hum though before they go?

mawint · November 9, 2011

So I am going to go pick up a new one and some people are telling me I should get one from the dealer and some are telling me the ones from like oreilly's or napa are fine, is there a particular one that last longer? I haven't been able to jack the truck up yet, live in an apartment complex, have to wait until I get to my parents before I can get it off the ground but I am thinking this is the likely culprit since it sounds like metal on metal grinding versus clicking or popping.

00Silverado4x4 · November 10, 2011

You will not always get warning that your bearing is going. My driver side didn't warn even after it was gone except after my tires started showing me wear. Then passenger went from all good to shot in less than a mile...quiet to growl just that quick. From what I've read Timken is the way to go. Mine were replaced by dealer (driver side) then by friends while I was deployed (passenger side) & not sure what my wife purchased.

mawint · November 10, 2011

Thanks for the reply, I plan on doing mine tonight. I NEED my truck back, getting tired of driving a G6 . It seems there are a lot of people having problems with hubs lately....

00Silverado4x4 · November 10, 2011

Lately & for the entire generation of truck it seems. Hope all goes well for you.

mawint · November 11, 2011

So... Finally got the truck jacked up and it wasnt a hub, I did have a little bit of play side to side but I think it only had play because the steering has a little bit of play. The noise is still there though but now it happens on left and right turns now, I can even hear it sometimes on take off. It seems to be coming from in the middle of the truck versus off to one side. It also seems to sound like a grind with a slapping noise like something is slapping something as it revolves. Anyone have any ideas?

Edit: Doing some digging, how possible is it that this noise could be coming from the rear? Only reason I ask is because over the summer I had used my parking brake a few times and now it no longer works and had heard some noises that came from the rear after it happened. Could it be possible that the noise I am hearing is the emergency brake getting a little unseated on turns? I also noticed yesterday that my back passenger tire has a little more brake dust on it than it should.

mawint · November 15, 2011

I was unable to find anything that I could directly relate to being the culprit, it looks like it is time to just take it in. At this point I am lead to believe that it is something in the drive line but am unsure of what it is.

00Silverado4x4 · November 16, 2011

If you have a wheel collecting more dust than another, I would say it's worth investigating. Make sure the "dusty" one isn't worn down or catching/dragging. Then check the opposite side to make sure it's doing it's job. Might have a problem with a caliper not working correctly and the "dusty" side is doing all the work for the entire rear end.

mawint · November 16, 2011

If you have a wheel collecting more dust than another, I would say it's worth investigating. Make sure the "dusty" one isn't worn down or catching/dragging. Then check the opposite side to make sure it's doing it's job. Might have a problem with a caliper not working correctly and the "dusty" side is doing all the work for the entire rear end.

I checked the side that had more on it and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I tore down each wheel all the way down the parking break and tried to figure out why it doesn't work. They only thing I found out about it is that the parking break on the drivers side works fine but the one on the passenger side doesn't. The cable doesn't seem to pull enough on it to engage it.

Sir Dan · November 17, 2011

Hate to bring it up, but assuming its a 4x4, have you considered your front diff? Lots of moving parts and bearings in there to go bad.

mawint · November 17, 2011

I am thinking it is the front diff too. I quit driving it unless I absolutely have to and am going to try and get it in at the end of this month. Out of my own curiosity though, how hard is it to change the bearings in the front diff?

2004KrewKab · February 9, 2017

hey guys, i just joined this forum. i know this is a VERY old thread, but when i had a sound coming from my truck it sounded just like that underneath slapping/grinding sound, i found this thread and it helped me, so i assume when people google their symptoms and this pops up, they take the time to read it like i did...

anyways, mine made the same kind of sound. i also had a bad wheel hub at the same time. the bad wheel hub sounded like a bad shopping cart whenever i was driving, turning or straight. i replaced that with AC delco. personal prefrence i like to go with either ac delco or Moog for suspension/bearing parts like this, but the original equiptment was just a hair more so i figured why not?

secondly, the sound underneath had me baffled. i thought it might be Universal joints but when the u joints go bad you can usually feel a pretty heavy vibration, as the drive shaft comes out of round. and it only gets worse the more you drive on it. neglecting this can eventually lead to transmission problems, so take care of this as soon as possible. another way you can check u joints is grab the drive shaft (with the truck off and stopped of course) and see if you can turn it at all. there should be no play in it. if there is, check your u joints. unfortunatly this was not my problem. i put back wheels up on jack stands, turned the truck on put it in drive and let the tires spin. i got underneath it and you could clearly hear the noise coming from the transfer case. i even touched it and you could feel something bad in there. it sounded like the gears were just getting thrown around in there. warning: the sound will travel through the drive shaft and almost sound like it's coming from the rear... anyways, i took it to the only mechanic in town who is very honest with me and knows what he's doing. (he's not even the owner of the shop) and the transfer case was shot. they're in the process now of installing a Jasper transfer case. 2500 dollars installed. i hate to be the bearer of bad news. i figure Mawint has got his fixed by now, but for others reading this i hope it helps. Best of luck!