Hey guys, I have a 2001 ram 1500 with a 5,2L 318. Recently I have heard this weird grinding sound. It appears to be metal on metal coming from the driver side rear wheel. I took her to a shop but the mechanic said he doesn't hear anything comeback when it sounds worse I don't want it to get worse before he can diagnose it because I cant afford for it to break more things. I have been doing a little research and was wondering if it could possibly be the break drum. Which if it is the break drum how do I confirm that it is or isn't? Another possibility I think it could be a rear axle shaft bearing but I have no idea if there are methods to tell like with the front wheel bearing. I have checked my rear diff and there was no metal in it so i sealed it back up and put fresh oil in it. Another kicker to this problem is that it only can be heard at low speeds and everything has to be cold with the window down. When everything heats up and going down the road the noise is no longer there. It only makes sounds at low speeds recently I have been hearing when I go to park her after she has been warmed up but only when i'm going really really slow. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please let me know because I want to get this fixed before it gets worse. I know i'm not hearing things just my mechanic is lazy which pisses me off. Thanks!!

 

pull the rear wheels and drums and check them, pull in and out on the axles you will see if there is excessive play but im thinking it may be a u-joint they make some funky noises when they start/go bad.. so check driveshaft for excessive play in the joints

 

It's not the u joints I forgot to mention I just replaced all of them with Spicer joints less then 1500 miles ago. As to the axle check just up and down like the front if you were checking them?

 

Yep, check fluid level in the rear diff as well.

Pull the wheels/drums, and see how much slop there is on the axle.

 

Pull the wheel and drum and look for obvious problems. It could be as as simple as a broken spring grinding on the drum. If your so called mechanic was to lazy to do this may be you should lazy and keep giving him your money and take it elsewhere.

 

Well, I pulled off the drum and found the culprit. It was the parking break on the rear drum. Just thought I would let ya know for those who replied.

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

excellent, glad you found the culprit and now that you know you have a halfassed mechanic its time to find someone that knows what they are doing

 

Good news, the parts I bought from O'Reilly's failed already. Not sure which component failed but my drum and rim are pretty much screwed. Hopefully nothing else is broken because of the "quality" parts they sell.

 

What happened to the rim???