wheel "clicking"

glad to say I have my 96 2wd back on the road after a front end wreck, I'll upload pics of before and after when i get a chance.

here's the question. it's a 1996 2wd 2.7l 4cyl taco. one of the wheels (believe it's the rear passenger side) has a constant "clicking" sound coming from it usually only audible at lower speeeds. sometimes there and sometimes goes away. My wife has taken it to three different mechanics who have all told her that she's crazy and there's no "clicking" these people must be dumb because it's very loud and obnoxious when driving down the road. what could this be? I have all the tools to fix this myself, just not much experience working on this truck. u joint? cv? any suggestions?

 

Check your rear brake. If its got drums brakes on the back you may have a shoe that is not correctly adjusted or if its disc brakes may be time for some new pads.

Doesn't really sound like what your describing is the brakes but its somewhere to start

 

no I haven't seen any oil leaking from the rear wheels and yes they are drums in the rear but i have had the rear brakes done before and after the clicking and that never changed anything. been about 6 months since the last brake job now but this has been going on much longer. Should I just tear into the brakes myself, I've got the tools to do the job and manuals to walk me through it. It's an old truck, should i just go ahead and replace the wheel bearing anyway and see if that does the trick? any more suggestions or tips to taking the rear brakes/ wheel bearing apart would help, thanks

 

I get a similar clicking. It almost sounds like there is a a piece of metal stuck to the tire that keeps smacking the pavement with every revolution, right?

 

yes that sounds like you're talking about the same thing I have

 

this probably isn't the problem you are having, or you may have already checked for this...but just in case, give your tire a thorough inspection, and see if there is anything stuck in the tread. i felt like an idiot once because i had a similar clicking noise, and i checked for a rock that could be stuck between the tread, but didn't find anything. it was only later that my buddy suggested i give it another inspection and look for anything, not just a rock...go figure, it was a black piece of asphalt. needless to say, i felt pretty dumb. good luck, and i hope oyur problem is as easy to fix as mine.

 

thanks but definately not the tires, I've inspected them, and also changed them twice.

 

now this is gonna sound real stupid but couldnt help but post it I had a 98 tacoma 2wd and it had a tendency of ruining hub caps while driving at highway speeds 70+ I would know because they would begin to make a clicking noise at low speeds once they were cracked . I would reccomend pulling the hub caps and drive it see if the noise is gone may not be it but thought I would share

 

Are you sure it's coming from the rear? Or even from the wheel?

Does it stop clicking when you step on the brakes?

Is it clicking with wheel speed or slower than that?

Have you inspected your driveshaft?

 

it is not the hubcaps because I lost those years ago and never bothered to buy new ones. yes it does change with wheel speed, only it seems to go away at faster speeds, maybe just because of road noise at higher speeds itt just seems to go away but as I slow down say on the freeway off-ramp as i slow it gets louder and louder and matches the speed of the wheels rotating. it's the loudest at near zero speed and gets quieter as I accelerate. mechanics can't ever find it but it's obvious to me. guess I should just have the wheel bearings replaced anyway since I can't recall ever having them changed.