Grinding noise from front end
 

99 dodge ram 1500 sport, 5.9, 4x4, stock premium wheels. Got in it this morning and had a intermitant metal scraping sound which sounded like it was coming from the drivers side front, (I had not heard anything unusual yesterday when I parked it for the day). You can hear the noise beneath or just in front of your feet when driving. It comes and goes, gets more frequent the faster you go, (over 35 mph), and seems to occur more when turning to the right,,, although it does make noise when going straight as well.

The noise sounds just like the noise you would get from a brake caliper intermitantly scraping on the inside of a wheel. (Nasty metalic scraping sound).

I checked for any signs of rubbing/scraping on the wheels, calipers, steering knuckle, rotors, and axle tubes, but find none. Looked for rocks/foreign material in the brakes, found none. Brake pads are very good, rotors show no signs of unusual wear, front end seems tight, just had it aligned a few days ago. Put it on jack stands and spun the tires, no unusual noise, no signs of excess play in the bearings/hubs/etc, so I concluded as noisy as it was, it had to be a bearing,,, so I bought a new hub and changed the drivers side out. Took the truck out and drove it, still made the noise. Thinking it had to be noise transferance from the other side, I got another hub and changed the passengers side as well, replaced the u-joint on that side too. still have the noise.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, and what was the cause? What else could it be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

is your gearbox leaking?

Please use more descriptive thread titles.

Which gearbox are we talking about? I am not aware of any leaks at all, although the steering gearbox has a small amount of excess travel.

thx,

follow the steering column down into engine bay, and where it ends its the gearbox

Your hub bearings or the ujoints on the outer axles are shot.

Just changed both hub/bearing assemblies, and one u-joint today. The other u-joint doesn't appear to be bad, although I guess it could be.

95ram360, steering gearbox isn't leaking, although I do have a small amount of excess steering travel coming from it. Forgive my ignorance, but what would the gearbox have to do with the metalic scraping type noise while traveling straight?

thanks to all,

Sorry, I didn't read your whole post!:icon_doh: But aside from checking that other ujoint, does the noise change or stop when in 4wd?

I haven't used 4 wh dr., only had it in 2 wh. high for normal use. I am heading for the parts house right now to pick up another new u-joint and change the remaining one out. When this is completed, I'll have changed both sides bearing/hub assemblies, and both sides u-joints. Everything is torqued to specs, 125 ft lb. on the hub bolts, 175 ft. lb on the spindle nut, I've run out of ideas on what to do next. In 2 wh. dr. high, is there anything else that could be causing the metalic grinding sound that is coming from under the pedal area of the drivers side?

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.

Well folks, to my disbelief, it appears the noise was caused by the remaining u-joint. I removed it, looked it over, and although I could see some small marks from bearing needles, (they were small enough that they couldn't be felt with your fingers), I replaced it this morning. I've driven the truck approximately 50 miles since, and no grinding/scraping noise.

Thanks to everyone for their advice, and suggestions.