Northern Custom Cruiser

I mean the post contains most of the info i could give, its just a slow metallic squeak when im going under 15 in the front left wheel. Any ideas?

Professur

Does it change if you ride the brake?

joe_padavano

Remove your wire hubcaps temporarily and see if it still makes the noise. My money says it won't. The factory wire hubcaps suck. They ALWAYS make noises at low speeds.

Northern Custom Cruiser

I have no hubcaps on it currently.... O.o

It even makes the noise, more pronounced i might argue, when im accelerating from 0-15 and its not always present. Sometimes it is quite as a church mouse. This has just started happening recently

ELY442

Turn up the volume on your radio

joe_padavano

Have someone drive the car past you while you stand outside it. Does the sound come from the front or back? Does it change if you are driving straight vs. turning? Under power vs. coasting?

Prime candidates:

Brakes - especially worn brakes. The caliper pads have a wear indicator built in. Also, if the rotors have any runout, the calipers will move side-to-side slightly, possibly also causing a noise.

Wheel bearings - could be either front or back

U-joint

Paladin31

While holding a low speed, downshift manually {keeping speed stable] but let the rpm's climb, does the frequency of the sounds change ?

Brett

SnakeBit

you say it is squeaking, but is it a rotational squeak, i.e., does the sound change with the speed of the vehicle, even at low speed or is it just a squeak you hear at low speed. could be in the suspension if not a rotational squeak. at a higher speed, the part could be moving too fast up and down or whatever direction to mask the sound.

also, could be the tire. I had a tire making a noise once that I would have sworn was a wheel bearing.

Northern Custom Cruiser

The outer rim of the tire itself is much more worn than the other side and it makes a constant screeching sound when I go in reverse, i believe its related to the rotation of the wheel but not related to the breaks. Im hoping its not a bearing... Im quite stumped

jpc647

That sounds like a ball joint to me. I had more wear on one side of my tire vs the other, and I ended up replacing the entire front end. I think ball joints were all that was needed, but I went through it all.

It'd recommend only doing what was needed. Replacing everything, control arm bushings and what not with factory replacement is not worth it. The car handles the same with new bushings as it did with the 40 year old ones. Tires and new shocks made the only noticeable difference. I was pretty mad. I expected big things. Still a little bitter about it.

Inline

I have exactly same sound and symptoms. Mine comes from left front tire.
I bothered as much last year that i took the tire off, saw that i had new brake parts and new bearing, and called it a day, since i wasnt anyways going to drive no more than ~100 miles that year anymore. On my case i think the sound comes behind the brake rotor, and somethings touching it and making the squealing noise.

Soon ill take it under inspection when i go get it back to my yard.

SnakeBit

have you had the offending side wheel/tire off to see anything related to the brakes? is the dust shield hitting the rim? do you have aftermarket wheel on the car? how old are the brakes?

Octania

"Wheel squeaking at low speeds"

Avoid low speeds!
:-)

"but, Officer, I can't go slower or it'll squeak!"

pcard

What we know:
the noise is coming from the Front Driver Wheel at low speeds
it is intermittent going forward
it is constant going in reverse
you have an uneven wear pattern on your tire

Can you tell us:
what type of brakes do you have?
is the noise worse when you are turning?
can you take the wheel off and post some photos of the brake mechanism: pads, rotor/drum?
can you take a photo of the wear pattern on your tire?
is the wear pattern the same on the other tire?

Northern Custom Cruiser

Ive been trying to get a break between raining to get some photos up but mother nature isnt working with me. The noise isnt necessarily worse per say when im turning as i cant really hear it until im coming to a stop or taking off. Its a rotational squeaking and i believe the wheel is off center because i had a friend drive around me while i watched the tire and it apears to be leaning in a way which the outer rim of the tire is getting worn more. It doesn't seem to be the wheel itself because it stays that way and doesn't wobble around. Also, when taking the wheels off, the jack i have doesnt go high enough, does anyone know if the jack that comes with the car actually reaches high enough before i get in there taking it out just to realize its the exact same as the others?

Rocketowner

Is it possible that the wear indicator has been bent in, to where it is touching the caliper.That would give you a constant squeal ,that would be very noticeable at low speed.
Larry

oldcutlass

You can jack the car by the lower control arm. Once you raise the wheel off the ground, see if it has play in the bearing. If not then your wheel leaning issue is either an alignment or bent or worn parts.

The bumper jack will work but you need to support the car on something for stability.