So I'm trying to diagnose the cause of a rubbing sound but I'm out of luck. The truck is an '03 quad cab, 2WD, 4.7L V8. Every time I turn the wheel even slightly to the right, I can hear a rubbing sound and feel a slight vibration in the floor.

It only happens when turning to the right. Doesn't matter what speed, time of day, road condition etc etc. I dismounted the LF wheel, remounted it, and retorqued the lug nuts (thought that maybe the wheel wasn't mounted flat) and it's still there. I also switched the LF and RF tires, but that didn't do anything either.

Now the funny part is there is a rubbing sound, but there is NO evidence of any rubbing on the inner fender, rim, tire, brake caliper, nothing.

The tires are 5% taller than stock (255/70/16) but I drove the car for 20K miles with those tires before this randomly decided to start. There's about 3/4" of clearance between the tire and the edge of the bumper. Someone please help

 

Does it do it while rolling or also while at a standstill? Could be suspension if it is happening when not moving. Have someone turn the wheel to the right and back while you observe things (while parked of course).

 

I would check wheel bearings , jack it up and check both sides could be rotor rubbing on brake pad.

 

It only happens when the truck is moving. It gets louder as the truck goes faster. Like, I can barely hear it making a turn at 20MPH, yet it definitely sounds like something is rubbing really badly when I change lanes on the freeway. What does the discs rubbing on the pads sound like? This sounds like tire rubbing on something, but there's no evidence of tire rubbing anywhere.

 

Is it a metallic rubbing or is it a muffled plastic/rubber rubbing sound? Metallic rub would be more of a brake/wheel bearing/suspension problem. Plastic/rubber sound could be bushing/body panel/etc.

 

Wow, I've been looking everywhere for someone with a similar problem. I have the same thing happening on my 96 Dakota, 2wd 3.9 v6. There is no evidence of rubbing, yet I always hear it!! It does sound more plastic and rubber than metal on metal. I've also read it may be driveshaft rubbing but as I drive faster the rubbing speeds up in time. It pulls to the left but I think that has to do more with alignment problems than the rubbing. Also just how dangerous is that rubbing, is it something that will cause the wheel to fall off or something?

But yea almost exactly the same problem, I can feel the vibration through the floor as well. My muffler was redone not by me, by the guy who had it before me, so my exhaust pipe pretty much sits just behind the cab. Any info would be greatly appreciated. =)

 

This happened to me last week and I thought it was my brakes. When we got the wheel off to check the brakes, we found the problem was the hub and it needed to be replaced. Cost was $49.00 for the part and my brother did the labor. Hope this helps you!

 

ill second the hub assembly. take the wheel, caliper and rotor off. then grab the hub on opposite sides and try to rock it. it should have ZERO play.

 

wheel bearing, almost 100% sure. jack it up and rock the tire back and forth if it has any play change the wheel bearing ASAP!

 

in my experience, when the car/truck is lifted up with the wheel off the ground, if you have play and slop, its a bearing. If money is an issue,
just go to a junk yard and find a lower milage truck and take the entire hub, bearing assembly off. sometimes paying for a new bearing to be pressed and hub will cost close to $250 and up (depending on who does it)

hope this helps