Bearing Noise? 96 Grand Caravan

I have a 96 Gr Caravan with 97K miles. For a couple of months I have
been hearing a very high pitched metalic-sounding squeek from the front
end. It is mostly heard when putting light pressure on the steering
wheel to the right, or when a going straight and hitting a minor road dip.

The brake pads are in good condition. But I have not inspected the
condition of the guide pins.

This leads me to think it is a wheel bearing but I was always under the
impression that a bearing made more of a growl noise and was often
accompanied with vibrations. I notice no vibrations at all.

Do these bearings ever fail with this type of noise?

Thanks

 

I'd describe the sound a failing bearing makes as a harmonic that correlates
with your speed and increases as you turn into the failing bearing. With
time it gets worse. As the bearing gets looser you can feel it when you
left the van up and jiggle the wheel. Grabbing it from top and bottom,
jiggle back and forth and if there's any play the bearing is surely bad. In
the beginning there may not be any or much play, but there will be
eventually.

I felt no vibrations in my case, though I'm sure it happens as it will as it
gets worse over time.

Broken or missing caliper pins can cause wheel noise like this. If the
threads get stripped, which happens often enough if the caliper pins are
overtightened, they will fall out and the caliper will be loose. However,
the '96 should have 2 caliper pins per caliper and one tight one should
prevent the caliper from moving out of place.

 

My 96 GV is doing something similar to this also. It is a rymthic
squeak that varies with road speed and doesn't seem to very with
position of the steering wheel. I had the dealer check it out and they
said it was the brakes. Well, they replaced the pads and turned the
rotors and .... it made exactly no difference. I suspect the wheel
bearing, but don't know for sure. Guess I'll just let it get back
enough so they can REALLY figure out what it was.


Matt

 

Hi try checking the anti rattle clip ,it is a spring thats sits on top
of the brake pads,sometimes it will ride on the edge of your rotor
making a quealing noise.It took 6 trips to the dealer before they
finally figured this out,check the edge of your rotor to see if there
are any wear marks(this was on a 95 caravan).Tom