Grinding noise FR wheel well when wheels turned left 90 %

06 Scion TC, not sure what this is. Doesn't occur when wheels turned 90 % to the right, just to the left, while I'm turning into something (like a U-turn or a parking space).

Thoughts?
thanks. one possibility is a bad wheel bearing. jack the car up and spin the wheel by hand. if u hear a grinding metallic type noise, or feel any roughness when u turn the wheel, its most likely the bearing. allso try moving the wheel up and down, and in and out, to check for looseness. there shouldnt be any play in it.

if the bearing checks out ok, pull the wheel off and look at the brake pads. u could have one or both pads wore down to metal, and the noise u hear could be the metal of the pad rubbing against the rotor.

while your at it, check to be sure the brake backing plate or any other parts aint bent and contacting the rotor.

sometimes its hard to tell from the drivers seat exactly where a noise is coming from. if u dont find nothing on that wheel, do the same checks on the other wheel just to be sure. Hm I did not know worn brake pads could do this. Hopefully that's it-- I've got 2% left on my fronts and will be replacing those soon as I order some replacements. It's take 6 months to go from 10% to 2% though so I'm not terribly worried (if 2% sounds low). If your brakes are down to 2%, you need brakes now. Look at the inner fender also to see if the tire is hitting on anything on the left turn. yeah I checked that.

So it looks like I should buy ceramic, anyone have a recommended place to buy pads from?

I'm looking at these:
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/A ... 6 Steering

Am I going to need 2 of these for replacing my front brakes? I thought pads went on both sides...perhaps it's just on the side visible from the outside of the car? way2old is right, only 2% means your brakes are shot and need replacing right away.

theres 2 pads on each wheel, one on the outside of the rotor and one on the inside. if u replace pads on one wheel u gotta replace the ones on the other wheel too, so 4 pads altogether. the pads is sold in sets of 4, so one set will do both wheels.

but theres more to this then just throwing new pads on. the rotors need to be either replaced or resurfaced, or 'turned.' that way youll have a smooth flat surface on the rotor to match the surface on the pads. if u dont deal with the rotors, youll get reduced braking performance, and the new pads will wear out a lot faster then they should.

some shops with a brake lathe will turn them for a few bucks each. but if there wore out too much to be safely turned, theyll need to be replaced. the shop will measure them first and let u know.

where u buy the pads aint as important as getting good quality. raybestos, wagner and napa make good pads. each brand usualy has a cheapo pad, a mid price and a high end. stay away from the cheapo. the mid price is best for most folks. same with rotors if u gotta buy them too.

ceramic pads cost more but last a little longer, are quieter, and dont kick off 'brake dust' all over the wheels. Ah. I guess two calipers means 4 pads. The ones on the top I wasn't sure what they were (different color).

Resurfacing unnecessarily reduces the thickness if it's unneeded. rancur1p3c wrote:Resurfacing unnecessarily reduces the thickness if it's unneeded.


thats true. but its 'necessary' when u replace pads, for the reasons i gave before. in fact, resurfacing or replacing rotors is standard shop practice for brake jobs in any competant shop. again, if they cant be resurfaced they need to be replaced. skipping the rotors is only doing part of the job and will cause problems later on. conniecartech wrote:rancur1p3c wrote:Resurfacing unnecessarily reduces the thickness if it's unneeded.


thats true. but its 'necessary' when u replace pads, for the reasons i gave before. in fact, resurfacing or replacing rotors is standard shop practice for brake jobs in any competant shop. again, if they cant be resurfaced they need to be replaced. skipping the rotors is only doing part of the job and will cause problems later on.
of course it's standard practice, they want your money!

The internets are about 50/50 on replacing/resurfacing every brake job, lot of people saying every other, which makes more sense. That really depends on if you like the car to vibrate when you brake a lot quicker after the brakes are done. No more than resurfacing them costs, it is a very good investment. Money is not the only reason we want to do you a good brake job. We want you to stop safely instead of hitting that kid in the road in front of you? In that situation, which would you prefer?? A few dollars to complete a good brake service, or skimp and harm somene?? What if it is your kid? That is why I will not skimp on brakes. Even doing them at home, I resurface or replace rotors dependant upon thickness and wear. Your call. Also it is not a good idea to bad mouth mechanics on a mechanisc forum.

The 50/50 on the internet comes from whom? Are they in the profession, or somebody that will slap pads on for 20$? If that is what you want, you are in the wrong forum. way2old wrote:That really depends on if you like the car to vibrate when you brake a lot quicker after the brakes are done. No more than resurfacing them costs, it is a very good investment. Money is not the only reason we want to do you a good brake job. We want you to stop safely instead of hitting that kid in the road in front of you? In that situation, which would you prefer?? A few dollars to complete a good brake service, or skimp and harm somene?? What if it is your kid? That is why I will not skimp on brakes. Even doing them at home, I resurface or replace rotors dependant upon thickness and wear. Your call. Also it is not a good idea to bad mouth mechanics on a mechanisc forum.


The 50/50 on the internet comes from whom? Are they in the profession, or somebody that will slap pads on for 20$? If that is what you want, you are in the wrong forum.


They don't vibrate now, which tells me the rotors are fine.
If there is any unevenness, the pads will meet the grooves.
I don't see how this means I'm going to hit a child.

Anyways, thanks a lot for all the help with brakes and diagnosing that noise when turning to the left, everyone. Car Repair Talk's forum.