Mysterious grinding noise

Edit: problem solved, read my comment below if interested.

Hey everyone. New to TW. I have a problem with my 2002 Tacoma Xtra cab. It's four wheel drive, trd, has 3.4L engine and 5 speed manual. It sat for a year for no reason in particular. I got it back on the road and knocked the rust off the brakes but there was a new noise, like a bad CV axle. seems to be coming from front passenger side. It's like a pulsing grinding noise when I turn to the left. It doesn't make any noise going straight or turning right, and applying brakes makes no difference to the noise. My thought was, bad CV or bad wheel bearing. I'm not a mechanic, so I don't know. I took it to a shop and told them basically everything I just said. They said they would road test it and figure it out. I said it sure seems like a bad CV. The truck has 220K miles on it. I told them if it's a bad CV, replace both driver side and passenger side and check out the wheel bearings while they're in there and let me know. They replaced both CV axles and check my wheel bearings and told me the bearings are good. I leave the shop and on the drive home it's still making the same damn noise. It's considerably less now but it's still there. It seems to do it when I'm on the gas but not when I'm just coasting. I'm stumped. Of course I'm going to call them but I figured I would ask y'all first. Thanks in advance for any insight into this.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did check those. I know what a rubbing dust shield sounds like though and doesn't seem to be that kind of noise.

 

Check them U-joints

 

Based on the noise, it sounds like a CV joint, but based on the sitting, I would be more inclined to think wheel bearing. Is it a rotational noise that changes with speed?

 

Did they road test the truck before and after? Or did they just put it up on the rack?

I had a noise I suspected was a front wheel bearing, I could never "pin" specifically to the wheel bearing. I pryed on the wheel, spun it, even went so far as to tear into the hub removing and replacing the seal to visually inspect the bearing. I ended up basically replacing everything else (cheaper) in pursuit of silencing the truck. Eventually, I pulled the front spindles off and dropped them off at a machine shop (this was before I had a press) with the new bearings. Problem solved. You can save a considerable chunk of money if you're able to remove the spindles yourself (the only special tools required are a puller for the upper ball joint, and a large socket for the cv axle hub). Otherwise, expect to pay $1000-1400 at a shop.

 

Okay well thanks to everyone who commented. I figured it out. This is the part where I eat humble pie and ask for seconds. In my defense, I am not a mechanic. Everything I know about working on vehicles, I have learned by just "doing" and failure is one hell of a teacher.

I asked the shop to road test it and find out the problem. I guess they just went with my first guess instead of putting in the effort to figure out what the hell was going on. I know for a fact that they didn't road test it after they replaced both axles. I told them, IF it is a bad axle, go ahead and replace both because I know they have a lot of miles on them. They were just happy to take my money. Hey, you know what, you can sheer a sheep many of times but you can only skin it once. Fuck 'em.

The problem...... I knew it was something on the passenger side and it was. Literally all the lug nuts on my passenger side REAR tire were like finger tight only and the wheel was shifting around making the grinding noise. I swear, I have heard bad CV joints before and it sounded exactly like that. From the drivers seat, it really did sound like it was coming from the front. I torqued the lugs to 85 ft lbs, went for a short drive then checked the torque again. No more noise. I hate to admit what a shit show this was, but didn't want to leave you all with an unanswered question.

 

WOW!
this shop you took it to screwed up. They had to take off the wheel to change the axle. So, either they charged you for something they didn't do, or they too forgot to tighten the lug nuts and put you in danger.

Glad you figured it out, BTW

 

Thanks for the update! I'm pretty sure everyone here has had something like that happen to them, at least once. I almost lost BOTH passenger side wheels on the highway once, driving home because I forgot to torque my lug nuts after a tire rotation.

 

they were working on the front. The loose lugs were on the rear.