Yeah I hope so too.

 

Do you have aftermarket wheels? If so did you take off the spring retainers that hold on the rotor? These can cause the wheel not to sit flush with the rotor. It causes a small wobble to the rotor which will inturn rub against the caliper. It's a long shot, but it's a shot.

 

Sticky caliper makes heat drive it and touch the rotors this is simple and effective. Could be a bad bearing.

 

Well, after getting the car in the air and looking it over completely, I am confident it is not the brakes. No scorching. No sticking. Also, while driving it this morning I could still hear the sound while both applying and not applying the brakes. The brake pedal has no effect on the sound whatsoever. I would expect the noise to stop or at least be altered while braking. But, the sound is still there and I am concerned that it could be the diff. There are signs of leakage from the valve or whatever it is on top of the passenger side axle tube. But, it's not a significant amount of leakage. Later today I will make sure the diff has enough oil in it. I guess it could be low. That could be noisy right??

Wheels are stock Brembo wheels by the way, Cobrakey

 

There is a tsb from for about the diff leaking during "high speed turns" there is a fix from the dealership. I had the same problem. Simple fix havent had any issues since then.

 

I'd like to know what is qualified as a "high speed turn". :-) Jeez - you think they would figure this stuff out decades ago.

 

I still haven't figured this out. If it is the brakes (and that is what it sounds like to me), wouldn't applying the brakes alter the sound? Because it doesn't change the sound at all.

 

You said you looked it over and didn't think it was the brakes. So I assume the rear wheels spun freely when you checked it. If the rear brake pads are stuck and already engaged, depressing the brake pedal shouldn't change the sound. But I would think this would be highly noticeable.

 

Yep, the wheels spun freely with equal force. I was able to manually activate the brake as well using the e-brake cable and that stopped the wheel as would be expected. This is probably normal, but just to be sure, the outer pad was in contact with the rotor at all times whereas the inner pad had a tiny gap until I activated the e-brake. That is why I believe that the brakes are probably fine. The thing is that the sound I am hearing sure as hell sounds like a rotor and pad rubbing against one another.

I am beginning to wonder if it's my new tires and I am just being a hypercondriac about it. It all started once I got the tires (Nitto INVO's). It just sounded too metallic for me to suspect the tires at first.

 

Bearing..???