trickdriller

Ok, I was driving home last night and getting on the throttle a bit. I was onlu going to about 4500 rpm because i was going up an on ramp and my car is a non-pi Anyway, at around 80 mph I heard this horrible grinding noise that seemed to come from under the passenger floorboard, a bit behind the wheel. Ibacked off the speed and it went away. It did it again today. It onl happens at 75mph and up; not any speed elow that.

So can anyone guess what this is? I have a 97 GT. The bolts that hold the header to the midpipe on the passenger side have been broken and welded back into place by a shop a while ago. I don't think that is what it isan but it might be useful information. Any ideas?

Brute03

wheel bearing maybe? does it happen under heavy braking?

trickdriller

No, not under braking at all. When I hit the brakes to slow down, it goes away. It is only when I cruise at over 75mph.

Stone629

Sounds like a wheel bearing on its' way out.

trickdriller

Ok, so how can I be sure it is the wheel bearing, how do they go bad and how hard is it to replace? Thanks for the help, by the way

clean97

You can pull that wheel off and check the bearing for any missing pieces of the bearings or could be a lack of bearing grease? Also check for grooves in the bearings. I would replace the inner and outer race if it is the bearings.

racer02GTstang

jack up the car and see how the wheel feels. see if you can shake it ways its not suppose to move... sounds like a wheel bearing going out to me as well.

trickdriller

Ok, how much is involved with replacing that? I try to do all my own work and I can do the suspension and brakes without too much difficulty. Any links on parts or installation instructions? Stuff like that. I really don't even know what a wheel bearing is

97targa

WTF are you talking about. You mustbe talking out your ***. These bearings are 100% sealed. You cannot see anything and they will not lose greaseunless the seal lets go and even then you wouldn't see much other than maybe a trace of grease. The bearing is the whole front hub assembly. It has the lugs attatched to it. Run about $50 each side

I want to say it's not your wheel bearing. Wheel bearings are a distinct sound and produce the same moaning noise at any speed above 40mph. They do not go away unless you relieve the weight off of them. They are very apparent when you put weight on them for ex. if your pass. wheel bearing is bad, your car would moan much louder around a left hand turn and go completely silent around a right hand turn.
Sounds to me like you have a different issue. Could be trans related like the driveshaft! My car has a grinding noise above 75mph as well because I lowered my car and changed the pinion anlge. Well the more load you put on the car like the weight of a passenger or speed(wind pushing the back of the car down) will cause the driveshaft u-joints to grind because the pinion angle is not correct. Is your car lowered?

trickdriller

Yeah, it is lowered a bit. Not too much, just enough to look good. If you're familiar with the '01 Bullitt, that is the suspension I put on it. You might be on the right track, though. I do have a bit of crap in my car at the moment. I have my headers, a couple lawn chairs, some crap in the back. It MIGHT have changed the angle in the rear, but why would it make that noise in the front right wheel? And it does seem that it will make the noise when the wind is blowing a certain way and then it will just stick around a bit.

I really don't know what in the world this is. Maybe with this information you can guess better than I can. Thanks for taking a look at this stuff and giving your input. I'm lost right now.