Odd grinding sound on right front wheel

I was in vegas for 4 days and it had rained a little bit while I was gone. I took these photos the day after I got back.

 

Those lugs are definitely not stock. Here is what the stock lugs look like.



Note there is a washer permanently attached to the stock lugnut and also a small taper on the end. That taper is important as it "centers" the wheel on the hub.

 

Thanks, I'll pick up some stock lug nuts from advanced on my way home tonight... on the motorcycle... in the cold. The things I do for this truck.

I cannot honestly understand the incompetency of some owners. Why would you put different sized washers on a lug nut if they didn't need them in the first place.

 

Wouldn't a "whoop whoop" noise be a wheel bearing possibly? I had a grinding noise on both my wheels, i thought it might be the wheel bearings because it was constant, turns out the brake pad wear indicators were bent in and hitting the rotor.

 

The washers may have been put there on purpose. Those wheels may not have cleared the calipers without them. The pic you posted of the hub and caliper definitely show the wheel is hitting it.

The wheels you have may have the toyota logo on them but I've never seen them before. They are definitely not what came with the truck from the factory.

 

I need to check on that to make sure. Yea I don't know if whoop whoop is the best way to describe it but that's as close as I can get without making a video which I don't have time to do right now.

When I turn the wheel on the jack it's fine and the wheel never hits the caliper. But without the washers, when I install the lug nuts the wheel doesn't even seat properly. It's like the lugs aren't long enough for the wheel itself.

For right now I'm going to try some stock lug nuts from advance for the taco to see if it addresses the problem. Every other wheel has been fine for 2 years.

I know that when I did the brake job last november, some lug nuts had 2 washers and some with just 1. It was definitely a WTF moment, but I put them back on and they've been fine so far.

Yes, I want to get new wheels, tires, suspension the whole nine yards but in the mean time I can't.

 

Have you spun the wheel by hand with the truck lifted up by a jack? You should be able to pinpoint such a severe noise by just hand-spinning the wheel. This is of course assuming that the new lug nuts don't fix the issue, which I think they most likely will. Let's keep our fingers crossed just in case!

 

Wait! You should not have any washers between the hub surface (where the studs stick out) and the wheel. None, nada, never.

If you place the wheel on the studs without any washers on the studs, will the wheel rotate freely, without hitting anything?

 

They are 2001-2004 Sequoia wheels.


http://www.originalwheels.com/toyota-wheels/sequoia2002rims.php

 

I knew they came off a sport utility, but was not sure which one.

 

No the washers were not between the hub and the wheel they were between the lug nut and the wheel.

I tried placing the wheel on the hub with no washers with the lug nuts tightened down and there was a ton of play which makes me believe that the wheel simply isn't made for the truck (which we have concluded) even though they have been fine so far.

My thinking is that the wheel that was on the rear was slightly warped or something because it fit the drum brakes fine but not the front calipers.

I'm going to put the spare on tomorrow and see if I hear anything. IF I DO HEAR the same sound, it's something more, but if not it's probably the wheel.

 

UPDATE:

Just want to let everyone know that is interested and for similar problems that might occur on someone else's truck on what's going on.

So this past week, I bought some the ARE wheels from the craigslist guy. Killer deal killer wheels. Very happy with purchase. Those steelies take acorn style lugs and not the OEM lugs that I had ordered.


In the mean time I started putting the lugs on the sequoia wheels that are on there currently and they are not obviously made for those wheels.


Live and learn.

But, the knocking was still there. Not the lugs.

Swapped out that front right with the spare tire. Should solve it, right?!

Nope.

Still there. At this point I cracked open and beer called my mechanic buddies that know what they're doing.

They showed up later and ended up shaking the truck back and forth from the bed and heard a knocking sound. We located it in the driver's rear. The wheel wasn't sitting flush to the hub. This was due to a bolt that had been cross threaded when I got my tires changed at Discount Tire. Because this is when I started to notice all these problems. They had to have done something odd. Turns out a stud had been cross threaded when they swapped wheels. You can't get a lug nut back on that specific stud at all. So we just tightened down 5 out of the 6 on that tire and left it for the night.

I'm heading to discount soon to see what they can honor since they screwed it up.

My question is this: Can a loose rear wheel (not sitting properly to the hub) cause front end wobbly steering?

Also, I think it's time for new suspension

 

Do you have the same washers on the drivers side? It sounds to me like a loose wheel bearing or a pulled belt in the tire. Try switching left front and right front wheels and tires around for a quick test.

 

Currently no. I have my spare on the passenger front which is a steel wheel and not alloy and the sequoia wheels everywhere else. I'll have to try it this afternoon.

It's been making the noise regardless of new lugs or different wheels.

I'm getting it towed to a place that Discount recommended and will reimburse me if the problem is related to them changing the tires. Which this never occurred until then.

 

It's possible. I'll check when I get home. Because discount did balance them. I'll see if there's anything on the inside of the wheel. But, the spare tire has is completely different and still makes the noise.

The more and more I read about the issue sounds like a bearing going bad, even though there's no play when I try to wiggle the tire

 

something you should check is to make sure the 4 bolts holding on your lower balljoint to the spindle are tight.

mine came loose on me and did this.

hopefully the stripped stud is the issue.

 

I don't have time to read this whole thread, but my guess is wheel bearings. To confirm if it's the wheels being switched, as u suspect it is, switch them back and see if the sound goes away. If so then you kno something is up with that particular wheel. If not, then it cancels out that possibility

 

Problem solved:

Turns out that the wheels weren't even put back on properly by Disc**nt Tire. That's what was causing all these issues. Coupled with odd lugnuts from previous owner and we have a case of WTF.

Truck is good now though. I had it towed to a shop and they took off wheels, tightened everything up and drove it. They didn't hear a grinding sound or odd wobble. I drove the truck this morning and it drove just like it used to. However I was a bit cautious; just didn't have my confidence back yet.

I'll be keeping the steelies I bought though and plasti dipping them with anthracite metallic cans on dipyourcar.com I think eventually, I'll start a build up thread because I need new suspension.

Anyways, thanks for all your input!

 

Yeah, I've never had problems with them until now, but I won't be going back.

 

I have had a shop crossthread nuts before, it is annoying, but an EZ fix to replace the studs...

As far as your problem, the shank on the wrong nuts was too long and hit the rotor or drum surface first before cranking the wheels down tight, that is why you had the washers as spacers...

The simple solution a month ago would have been to get a set of factory Toyota lugs made specifically for alloy rims...

I had 15" alloys on mine, upgraded to 17" alloys from a 2010, used same alloy nuts....don't buy them at the dealer, get them on Ebay, mucho cheaper...

Glad you got it all sorted out, drive on, have fun......