Having trouble diagnosing this noise ive been hearing in the front end of my truck. Heres a little background:
I own a 97 dodge ram 1500 4x4. Recently replaced the ujoints, balljoints, steering components and stabilizer arms in my front end. Then one day my wheel bearing fell apart in the drivers front and I almost lost my wheel. It was sitting at an angle. So I had both wheel bearings in the front replaced. This was about 3-4 weeks ago.
In the past couple weeks I've been hearing some noises in what sounds like my driver front wheel(the wheel bearing that fell apart). Its kind of like a scraping sound when im driving then over small bumps its kind of like a jingling noise. Over larger bumps it doesnt seem to make the noise. Its not really loud cant hear it when the windows up and if im accelerating, driving at high speeds, have my music on,ect. with the window down. It also drives perfectly straight.
Not sure what it can be I was thinking brake components at first but it doesnt seem to stop/get louder when applying the brakes. Looking for any suggestions or anyone with similar problem to give input. Thanks

 

check that the bearing is tight by grabbing the tire at the top and pulling in/out as hard as you can. there should be no movement.

jack up the truck and spin the tire. brakes should make only a tiny tiny scraping noise. remove tire and check the thickness of the pad, and see if the squealer is dragging. its at the inner edge, and is designed to drag on the rotor when the pad gets thin. this alerts you that you need brakes.

 

Also to check the backing plate. They have a tendency to rust out where the get pinched between axle and the wheel-bearing.

 

Check the cardan joint on the front driveshaft.

 

Thanks for the replies.
Well, jacked it up on my lunch break and theres no movement in the bearing. I spun the wheel noticed a small noise kind of like a click. Looked behind the wheel assembly and theres like a ring thats loose on the axle shaft near the bearing looks like its suppose to go against the bearing but it doesnt seem to want to "press" in. Anyone know what said ring is? its like thin but the wall on it is like 1/4". This an important piece? Im pretty sure this is where the noise is from

 

If it's not left over from the old one, then it sounds like it's part of what keeps the seal connected to the bearing,so no crap gets in it. Take a pic of it,maybe someone can help further.

 

Ya my dad suggested it might be left over. Looks like it could sit in there and keep the bearing free of dirt and stuff though. I'll take a pic tomorrow. Thanks for the help.