Scraping noise? From where??

I've been dealing with gremlins lately... my 05 0R 4.0 access cab has been making this awful metallic scraping sound. It first occurred on a road trip last weekend (I had done an oil change the day prior) I literally hopped out of my truck to see if I was dragging my exhaust or skid plate. Seems to come from the mid- front driver side.

Last time it made a similar noise it was the passenger side heat shield sitting unsecure on the cat so I promptly tore it off.

So last weekend I checked the driver side heatshield and it was off one of the bolts so I yanked it off as well. Did not solve my problem...

I find it does it the most when driving slow, going up my sloped driveway, slowly accelerating from a dead stop.

I will note that it has occurred while I'm stopped too...

The ride doesn't feel different at all, not bumpy like you'd get with worn u joints or wheel bearings.

I checked the driver side wheel bearing and there was zero play, rotar shield didn't seem bent where it would scrape and why would it scrape at a dead stop? No rocks stuck anywhere that I could see either.
Brakes and rotors are the original ones I believe, pads still have a lot of life in them.

I'm lost here and the noise is bothering the hell out of me, I don't know where else to look... my next step was going to be greasing the ujoints which are pretty Rusty, but again if it was a ujoint issue, it wouldn't be driving smooth?

Need some ideas here...

Tacoma noise https://imgur.com/a/0iyozLy

 

Here is another video with the sound

https://imgur.com/a/ScRAPpV

 

Check the dust shields on the front disc. Sounds like one has a rock in it or it's been pushed into the disc.

 

Thanks for the reply, I did check the rotar shields/ covers for debris and to see if the were bent... I guess I didn't really look to in depth to see if a rock or something was deep in there, I'll take another gander

 

Can you put it up on jack stands, let it idle in gear with a helper inside, ready to apply the brakes in the event of some unforeseen, imminent disaster (falls off jack stands)?

This would be my course of action. Please note, I am not a trained professional, proceed with this at your own risk!

 

I found the source of the noise, I greased my ujoints and when I was down there I noticed a heatshield sitting on top of the driverside CAT (the bottom part had already fallen off.) So I'd been driving around a with a loose heatshield rattling on top of the CAT.

I'd already gone underneath the truck and beat things with a hammer including that CAT but did not notice the heatshield before... smh

 

I was going to say it sounds like a heat shield or disc brake dust shield. Glad it was an easy fix.

 

hi TacoHank12,
I have the same sound coming from my 2015 v6 with 105k.
I was sure I lost a piece of the tail pipe but like you said nothing noticeable dragging.
I took a Quick Look on the drivers side cat but didn’t notice anything loose on the heat shield. Was yours completely off or loose? What am I missing? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Hey Charley, so I got up underneath the car a few times and banged around on stuff before finding it. The shield was literally sitting on top the cat completely loose.

I'd familiarize yourself with all the heatshield locations and give them a good wiggle, if those don't seem to be the problem as others have mentioned in this thread check to see if the brake shield is making contact somewhere or has a rock in it.