Tire rubbing feeling

[JimMadsen]

The other day noticed a rubbing sound/vibration from driver front tire. Took a friend for a ride and he thinks it is tire cupping. Seems to be noticeable when going at least 20mph in a straight line. At highway speeds, it gets louder and I can feel it in the pedal. Sound is constant but decreases when coasting and almost disappears when taking the curve of an exit ramp.

 

We jacked the car up on that side and their is a faint wear on the outer rim of the tire going about 2 inches in. Tread is fine. Strut cartridges got replaced in the front about 2 years ago but nothing else for suspension.

 

This happened all of a sudden in past week or so.

 

On Thurs, had car in for coolant change and it kept stalling in service station parking lot. They test drove it and never said a word. Next day is when I started to notice something. Nothing seems to be rubbing against the tire itself.

[Schurkey]

Swap front tires L-to-R, see what happens.

 

Don't rule out defective wheel bearing or PS rack-and-pinion.

 

Does the brake pedal or the steering wheel pulsate/vibrate when braking?

[LumiLTZ]

X2 on possibly a wheel bearing. Does it become louder or even go away when you go around a curve on the highway? Definitely try the L-R front tire swap first though, and let us know if there's any difference.

[JimMadsen]

Thanks

 

Swap front tires L-to-R, see what happens.

 

Rotating tires on saturday. First chance to actually get it done.

 

Don't rule out defective wheel bearing or PS rack-and-pinion.

 

While the bearing does not seem to be too difficult, going to replace the rotors and pads first and test drive. The rotors have felt slightly warped and I planned on replacing with my next brake change (I actually always replace the rotor as they are so cheap and feel better that way)

 

Does the brake pedal or the steering wheel pulsate/vibrate when braking?

 

Not really, I feel the rubbing as a vibration constantly in the pedal and steering wheel while moving. The rubbing sound is there once I hit 25 or above.

 

Looked at the tires under better lighting and there is NO cupping or abnormal wear that I can see.

 

Took my father for a ride to see what he thought and he has had the sound and feeling before from a imbalanced tire. He also thinks a warped rotor can do it. I took a lot of curves and turns with him, windows open, ac and radio off both fast and slow. No grinding, rattling (cv joint sound) or funny smells. Sound was a little more noticeable when taking curve on highway.

 

Should I do left to right, front left to back right back left forward, or front left to back left. I have heard so many different reasons for all 3 types of swapping and I want what is best and safest.

 

When I have rotor and pads / caliper off, is there a way to test the bearing to see if it may be going?

Edited June 6, 2013 by JimMadsen

[WhatTheFehl]

When was the last time you had the car aligned? Did you get it aligned after the struts were replaced? You initially mentioned you saw some outer edge wear on the tire... this isn't "normal". You very well could have slight cupping to the tires. I've seen tires that don't look all that bad cause hellacious noises. If it IS a cupped tire, the noise may not go away with a rotation. Rotating the tire is good to use to isolate a bad tire, though (wandering issue, vibration).

 

If you can rule out the above, I would bet on wheel bearing next. What kind of car is this, by the way?

[JimMadsen]

It is a 98 lumina 3.1. I have not had an alignment done in 2.5 years I have owned it, but I have had it checked in past 6 months after noting some road wander, shop said it could use one at some point but it was ok for awhile. Maybe that awhile has come and gone. They did not see any issues with tie rods, bearings and such then.

 

On drive home I was finally able to get up to a decent speed. Most of my driving is rush hour stop and go. Best way to describe the sound is like a low pitched power sander or the heavy duty 1930's era clippers the barber uses. The vibration feels similar in the pedal and steering wheel. It is louder and heavier vibrations at 20-25mph then at 60. At 62-65, it is almost gone.

 

We are supposed to be getting nasty weather tomorrow and my kid went down for a nap so I went out to rotate the tires. They are non-directional, swapped front left to rear right, rear left forward and same for other side of car.

 

When I had the front left tire off, I did not see any cupping. There is a very faint even rounded angle along the outside edge of the tire. Inside does not appear to match this angle. Right side tire had a similar but not as noticeable angle.

 

Rotor spun freely and was loose on the bolts. I saw faint but smooth to touch lines following the circle of the rotor maybe an inch out from the inner edge and another an inch further. The pads looked to have about a 1/3rd of an inch left. Everything appeared to be intact and I did not feel any loose parts, see anything I would find amiss or smell anything like burning wheel bearing grease.

 

I will be going for a test drive after my wife gets home from work as I do not think a test drive with a 6 month old is a good idea! If the sound is gone, I will skip the further brake work for another month or so and get an alignment done. Think it is only about 100 in my area.

[Ace2717]

I had a similar problem with my 98 Regal. The alignment was off a little and it was causing my wheel bearing on the drivers side to go bad. I went through a few bearings before I figured it out. Check your front wheels after you drive a little and see if one is significantly hotter than the other.

 

 

And I apologize if I restated anyone else's idea, I didn't realize anyone else had replied (the forum was on thread view)

Edited June 7, 2013 by Ace2717

[JimMadsen]

]Check your front wheels after you drive a little and see if one is significantly hotter than the other.

 

Sorry took so long to get back to this. Yes the driver side is hotter than the passenger, but not unbearable heat.

 

Recently after I posted, I brought the car in for a free alignment check. Wink wink nod nod. They didn't find anything abnormal other than the wheel bearing needing replacement. The brakes and rotors are ok, they did not see any warped rotors. They also said the alignment was ok.

 

The owner actually told me I can replace the bearing in a thousand miles or so if I wanted..... While I have no reason to mistrust him, I have dealt with him before and he would rather customers come back happy then make extra cash off of them, I plan on replacing them this Saturday or 4th of July weekend. We are going on vaca for a week between the two and the car will be parked.

 

Having limited funds at the moment (vaca already paid for) I will replace the one, replace the passenger side before summers out and do the brakes when they start to chirp. I am not going after the ball joints right now since they were checked off as ok.

 

So two questions:

 

1 - Do I need a bearing with the abs wire? My car has abs but all of the ones I am finding at rockauto, amazon, autozone, napa... do not have it, all of the stores say it fits my car. Service manual states to use the wire. I would really like to get this one: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1288183 There is a Timkin one at RA that states "Front; ABS Sensor Part Of Axle Assembly; 4-Wheel ABS" but the pictures do not show a wire.

 

2 - Do I need to use the "Front Hub Spindle Remover part J28733-b?" Not a big deal, just wondering if I should rent it or something.