Good morning all. Over the last couple of days I've notice some irregular noise coming from my 2005 G35 Coupe 6MT.

1) When I'm driving without turning, the front drivers suspension area makes a loud friction roaring noise... it gets louder as the car slows down, whether in gear or neutral.

2)When I make a sharp right turn onto any street, parking lot, or drive may... my car makes a loud screeching noise, similar to the noise brake pads make when they need replacing.

I just removed the front tires, brake pads and calipers to see if I can observe any friction wear. However, everything looked in order, with the exception that both lower ball joints need to be replaced soon (small holes/tears in the boot). I've searched and found people with the same problem without stating a solution. Can anyone help?

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing has some play and when you turn in a certain way it causes your brake rotor to apply pressure to your brake pads causing the noise.


Jack up that wheel and see if you can wiggle it up and down, if there's any play or roughness at all you should go and replace both front bearings. The fronts aren't hard to DIY as there's no pressing or suspension disassembly involved as far as I can tell, you will have to buy both the bearing and hub assembly though.

 

I've tried shaking and moving the tires and rotors while the front end was lifted. There was no play. Interesting enough, there are a lot of threads here with the same issue, but no one has posted their solution. I agree it does sound like a wheel bearing issue. I just don't want to pull the trigger replacing them, and it doesn't fix it. I've saw one thread on here were a guy replaced his hub assembly and the noise still was there. I'd hate to do that.

 

You can press out the ball joint on the spindle using a ball joint press. RockAuto has replacements and they are about 50-100 bucks a piece. I don't believe you can press out the compression rod ball joint though.

You can still have a bad wheel bearing without it showing any play. That is how my rear ones were no play, but extremely loud whoosing noise. You can buy the front wheel bearing and hub assembly assembled already. So, they are a lot easier to replace if you don't have access to a press.

 

I can't think of anything else which could cause your problem on the front driver side wheel, especially if you've already looked everything over. Does it spin perfectly smooth?


Something's coming out of alignment when you make that turn, but the only thing that would make a consistent screech that wouldn't be immediately obvious upon disassembly would be your brake rotor and the only thing that could cause a misalignment is a bearing/hub issue.


If the sound happens only on right turns, the play only occurs when forces are applied to the bottom of the wheel towards the car - maybe you could find some play if you concentrate on replicating the forces applied during a right turn?

 

I will try that. I just watched a ChrisFix video on youtube. He explained that bad wheel bearings sometimes will not show signs of play. I'll give it another shot and let you know.

 

I love ChrisFix, I'm about to follow his rust repair tutorial to the T on my G's wheel arches with the addition of some panel interior coating

 

Chris Fix is the man. I think watch that video just out of curiosity.I have some rust on the inside lip of my wheel well (I think the previous owner attempted to roll the fenders.

So, I didn't check again. I had some issues right after my first post. I work in a motorsports engineering lab for the summer. We have 3 lifts and one will be available later today. I'm staring to think the front suspension/brakes are ok.
1) I notice while I'm driving that if press the normal brakes, the roaring noise doesn't change.
2) If I pull the E-brake slightly while driving, the noise dampens.
3) If I'm slightly turning,either right or left, the roaring noise seems to go away until I start driving straight again (no squeaks/screech when turing)
4) The car only squeaks/screeches when turning right at low speeds.. like pulling into a parking space.

I'm starting to think it may be something with the rear rotors or hub. At the end of my work day, I'm gonna lift the car up and remove the rear wheels and give the rear brakes/suspension a good look over. I'll report my findings. Thanks.

 

Any updates on finding a cause? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

Yea... it was the drivers side rear bearing. It was looser than a hooker on payday in a bad part of town. I have not replaced it yet, I'm gonna walk up to Autozone *0.5 miles away) and borrow their ball joint press kit. Wish me luck.

 

I just did both of my rear wheel bearings. You'll need a slide hammer, bearing separator, two jaw puller (maybe ), and a press. I was able to get both out in one piece with a slide hammer. But, I was unable to remove the inner race of the bearing on both sides. I ended up buying new hubs as well, so you might have to do that depending on the miles. You'll then need the bearing pressed on the hub. I was able to use a 12 ton press. I'd also remove the cv shaft completely it makes the job easier and some swivel sockets/adapters.

 

I have access to a motorsports research lab and a motorsports shop. It took us way longer than it should have to replace it. I'll probably consider buying the entire hub next time. I wasn't that difficult, we separated the hub from the bearing off the car... I've see it done while on the car connected to the axle.

Thanks for all the help you all.

 

Best of luck.