Wheel Scratching Noise In Motion

[MagneticRanger]

I'm having a noise occur I cannot track down ....it sounds like dried out rusty hubs scratching away as the vehicle is in motion and amplified when in a tunnel or tight enclosed areas. The sound continues regardless of turning left or right or even when applying brakes.....I took it in to the dealership to have it checked out but of course could find nothing ...should also note they took it out when it was raining which probably helped mask the noise.

Anyone had similar issues or ideas ? ...sounds kinda rough going through town with this noise on the new truck

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[DBRanger]

Sounds very much like bad bearing, which is possible, I replaced the hubs on my Dakota a few years ago and one of the new ones went bad in a week. New parts can be defective. Or a dragging brake pad. Or something else who knows? Dealership mechs are not always the best. A good mechanic would probably find the problem in minutes with the Truck on a rack. Maybe take it to a different Ford dealership?

 

[MagneticRanger]

Sounds very much like bad bearing, which is possible, I replaced the hubs on my Dakota a few years ago and one of the new ones went bad in a week. New parts can be defective. Or a dragging brake pad. Or something else who knows? Dealership mechs are not always the best. A good mechanic would probably find the problem in minutes with the Truck on a rack. Maybe take it to a different Ford dealership?

I hope not ! ...but your right...it is what it is....I am planning on making a follow up appointment with the dealer to go over it again ...it was real quick check this morning but I'm certain they had it up on the lift..... disappointing for sure ...sh$t happens I suppose

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi,

I wish I could help you as I was an NVH technical Specialist at Ford before promotion to the executive ranks.
Maybe a few questions...can you determine the direction of the noise? front, rear, driver's side, passenger side, for example. Does it change with vehicle speed or is it constant? Does it change with engine RPM? Can you reproduce it in the driveway when your Very slowly rev the engine? what I an trying to get is if this is wheel sped or engine speed or not dependent on these factors. Here is a tip...drive to a mall and head to the back of a large store. Roll down your window and drive along the wall, listening to the sound..is it different? Does the direction change? Please provide as much as you can.

RAIN is a muting agent as is snow..dealer evaluation was meaning. I so want to help, So bear with me,

BTW... NVH is Noise, Vibration and harshness....one of the most difficult development areas at Ford.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

 

[MagneticRanger]

Hi,

I wish I could help you as I was an NVH technical Specialist at Ford before promotion to the executive ranks.
Maybe a few questions...can you determine the direction of the noise? front, rear, driver's side, passenger side, for example. Does it change with vehicle speed or is it constant? Does it change with engine RPM? Can you reproduce it in the driveway when your Very slowly rev the engine? what I an trying to get is if this is wheel sped or engine speed or not dependent on these factors. Here is a tip...drive to a mall and head to the back of a large store. Roll down your window and drive along the wall, listening to the sound..is it different? Does the direction change? Please provide as much as you can.

RAIN is a muting agent as is snow..dealer evaluation was meaning. I so want to help, So bear with me,

BTW... NVH is Noise, Vibration and harshness....one of the most difficult development areas at Ford.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

Hi Phil,

Thanks for taking the time to reach out!

I can confirm definitely not related to engine speed or rpm related ...while parked and varying the throttle it produces no noise , so definitely wheel speed related or at least in motion.

I notice it with drivers side window down ....sounds like front driver's side wheel ...but ive been fooled before with it being a rear so I can't be 100% sure.

As for wheel speed yes seems present anywhere from my daily driving habits 25 to 50 mph all present and again regardless of making left or right turns or application of braking and also during reversing.

Increasing of speed or decreasing of speed does not result in a "louder" noise but I would say an increase of speed results in a more rapid or higher frequency of the noise occurrence as well as slowing down results in a lower frequency of noise occurrence.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for taking the time to reach out!

I can confirm definitely not related to engine speed or rpm related ...while parked and varying the throttle it produces no noise , so definitely wheel speed related or at least in motion.

I notice it with drivers side window down ....sounds like front driver's side wheel ...but ive been fooled before with it being a rear so I can't be 100% sure.

As for wheel speed yes seems present anywhere from my daily driving habits 25 to 50 mph all present and again regardless of making left or right turns or application of braking and also during reversing.

Increasing of speed or decreasing of speed does not result in a "louder" noise but I would say an increase of speed results in a more rapid or higher frequency of the noise occurrence as well as slowing down results in a lower frequency of noise occurrence.

Hi

Okay, let's go with wheel speed. Can you have someone drive the truck slowly with you walking beside the truck? Walk beside each wheel. Hopefully that will I'd the offending wheel. Then remove that wheel and inspect sounds like something rubbing on the brake rotor. Or take to the dealer, and have them inspect the brakes, etc carefully.

Keep me posted!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

 

[Doc]

Hi

Okay, let's go with wheel speed. Can you have someone drive the truck slowly with you walking beside the truck? Walk beside each wheel. Hopefully that will I'd the offending wheel. Then remove that wheel and inspect sounds like something rubbing on the brake rotor. Or take to the dealer, and have them inspect the brakes, etc carefully.

Keep me posted!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

Could be a brake pad, a bearing sounds too soon.
Regards

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Could be a brake pad, a bearing sounds too soon.
Regards

Hi Doc,

Could be the pads. I think the cyclic nature of this scraping sound points elsewhere.
Will be interesting to see how this works out.
I have found a pebble trapped in a brake caliper, drove me crazy at first...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

 

[Geoff]

Hi Doc,

Could be the pads. I think the cyclic nature of this scraping sound points elsewhere.
Will be interesting to see how this works out.
I have found a pebble trapped in a brake caliper, drove me crazy at first...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

My guess would be a warped rotor.
Some Rangers have had supply issues with warped rotors.

 

[Doc]

Hi Doc,

Could be the pads. I think the cyclic nature of this scraping sound points elsewhere.
Will be interesting to see how this works out.
I have found a pebble trapped in a brake caliper, drove me crazy at first...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

Yes, as he says it happens at 25 mph up? Or as Geoff says a warped rotor possibility?
Regards

 

[P. A. Schilke]

My guess would be a warped rotor.
Some Rangers have had supply issues with warped rotors.

Hi Geoff,

Certainly could be warped rotor, but this causes pad knock back, which caused long pedal travel. Hey Magnetic, are you noticing long brake pedal?

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Doc,

What I am worried about is a loose wheel.... Short war story... I manager Ford's off-road racing program for 25 years as a secondary job to my regular day job. I was out at the Vegas to Reno race. One of our "house teams", The Los Angeles Sheriffs Racing team, lost a left front wheel on their stock class Ranger in the first 25 miles, so put on another wheel and lost that one too. Deputy Williams was going to pull out of the race...something was wrong! My vehicle dynamics engineer was at the next pit, so had him look at what was happening to this team. He found the loosening was caused by the wheel studs not being fully seated in the rotor, so the team was going to replace the rotor, fortunately, my engineer noticed the new rotor had the same problem, as did all the rotors they had on hand...Hoston..we had a problem..I called back to my Motorsports clerk, asking him where he got these rotors. He said he ordered out is assembly plant stock..yikes, got to the plant material folks, who checked how they filled the order...good news was the parts were from a supplier pallet that was not yet put on the line..so we quarantined the pallet of rotors...whew! Supplier sent in certified stock to support production and retrieved the quarantine rotors for rework...thus we dodged a potentially huge recall...

Wouldn't hurt to just re torque the wheels, and if one is not tight, investigate why.


Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Company Retired

 

[MagneticRanger]

Hey all , sorry I've just been out for our (Canada Day) long weekend...just picked cell connection back up.

Umm ..in regards to all posted comments. I had the truck into a nearby ford dealership for a very quick inspection as I did not make a proper appointment ..I just kind of snuck in.

The brakes seem to function properly and seem responsive without much application but I have been able to press them fully down so does that count? Definitely different then my old wranglers brakes.

The quick inspection did not include removing the wheels just a quick spin to see if an audible noise was present.

I have an actual appointment scheduled for this coming wed morning ...so hopefully that will yield better results.

 

[Willcuts93]

I had this happen to mine. It was the backing plate contacting the rotor near the right tie rod.

 

[MagneticRanger]

Sorry for the delay for further update.

Can confirm noise was isolated to front driver's side wheel with issue being rear rotor shield making contact causing the minor noise. All wheels were checked and adjusted accordingly ...noise has since disappeared!

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