348 Front wheels make horrible sound!!!! Please help

My 1st question is what is different from the old wheels/tires to the new ones . Also I would reinstall the old wheel/tires and see if you still have the noise. If you did not have this condition before the wheel change then something happened with the new wheels. Also if the rotors are warped you should be able to see this when you look at them. Are the new wheels "hub centric" and mounted correctly. As for the vibration this can be a balance problem but if the tire mounter did it right it should not be a problem. You may want them to rebalance them and also check to see if the wheels are straight. Another check is to see if the tires are "round" and not a problem of the belts seperating. I would start back with the tire folks and the wheels.

 

Just put new tires on mine and balancing weights hit calipers and something else on one wheel. Rebalanced and ok now.

 

Good posts above from RMDC and Steve King. Nice job, gentlemen.

 

When the tire guy says it's fixed, take him for a ride and listen for the problem, that way if it's still there, he'll know what it sounds like and he'll have a better idea of what's causing it.
Years ago, I had a tire-wheel shop put some aftermarket wheels on an old Vette ,they had the offsett wrong and the wheels were rubbing against the caliper all the way home-3 miles or so! I couldn't even turn the wheel by hand ! (they never checked) Spacers were needed and they left them off.

 

From your description of the problem, I think the tire store manager is heading in the wrong direction. It doesn't sound to me like a tire problem at all. Are you sure you got your lug bolt situation corrected? I would make very, very, very sure that you do NOT have a rubber brake hose or a metal brake line rubbing on the wheel.

 

The tire guy says the front tires are rotating (slipping) on the rims while you are driving along.

Mark tire and wheel with a crayon or marker and go for a good drive. if he's right the marks should shift so they don't line up.

Then take a picture and post it here.

This I have got to see!

 

I have seen the slipping issue with race tires run at race speeds. So it is possiblem but not likely. The cryaon/shoepolsih method will verify and prevent you from needing to remount... just rebalance. It sounds like you got two problems 1) vibration and 2) squeel. The noise can be wheel bearing or brake disc drag.

Cars not driven regularly can have pistons work but freeze a bit in the calipers and the not release completely and then make noise. You can revive frozen caliper pistons which are not completely frozen. What you need to do is put a screw driver into the the back of the caliper and pry aginst the pad to drive the piston back into the caliper just like you do before you change your brakes. Then you need to step on your brakes to reseat the brake pads. Now go for a drive.

see the picture wedge between the rotor and the pad surface the pad should push the piston in with less than say 5-10lbs of constant pressure.

You should also wiggle the top and sides of the wheel/rotor to feel for loose bearings and free spinning of the wheels AFTER the pads have been retracted. Any noise or grindning = bad bearings. Any play = bad bearings.

as to vibration the guy need to read the instructions for his balancing machine. Sometimes the guys just balace your wheel without enterning the diameter and width which the machine uses to calculate the balance. The wheel is balanced in the x and y axis. If you don't put these numbers in which many do not you are then only static balancing in one plane. He will tell me I am full of BS. I will say to him he is lazy. This is why I can balance my race tires with a bubble balance as good as any tire shop except the very best who balance wheels with precision.
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If fatbollybob's fix doesn't get rid of the noise then I would check two things.

1) make sure that the wheel bolts haven't gone so far in that they are rubbing the wheel hub.

2) check the condition of the wheel bearing

I had a NASTY scrapping noise in both my rear wheels, at different times. The problem turned out to be bad connecting axle flange in both instances. The ring nut that holds it in place was not tightened down properly, resulting in the flange getting loose and getting ruined. It allowed the wheel to wobble, and in the first case, one of the bolts that holds the rear bearing in place was scrapping against the wheel hub.

 

Haha!! Agree, not going to happen.
Race cars do it all the time, have seen it before myself, so FBB is right there.

 

Wow!! Nothing going on there? Was the car/brakes/wheel cooled down when you spun it? Hmmmmmmmmmmm, this could be a heat/speed related issue? Something is heating up, expanding and causing this noise down the road. Wouldnt be wheel bearings, as the noise would be there the whole time. The noise goes away when you brake, then it seems like a brake issue IMO. How old is the brake fluid in the car Eric? I have seen pistons in calipers stick when hot, causing the same issue. The brakes simply squeal on the rotor because the pistons are sticking due to heat/swollen seals in caliper ect......Strange eh? You would think that car would suffer from brake drag and be sluggish, but I never noticed any in the cars I drove with this issue. The customer would always complain that it only does this, when the car was hot. Never when cold. Strange, but without having the car in front of me, then thats all I can come up with at this point in time mate.

 

Are the 355 wheels wider than the 348 wheels in front? If so, wouldn't you be missing a half inch or so of lug thread?

 

I think the wheel hub thickness is the same ND, so you can reuse the same bolts im sure.

 

348 stock bolts in the front are 55mm under the head.

355 stock bolts in the front are 52mm under the head.

I kinda doubt 3mm is making this noise. Is there any visible wear on the hub from using these bolts? My vote is brakes/pads/rotors or something in that vicinity.

 

Haha!!
Sounds good mate. Get it nice and hot, if there noise is still there, then investigate when its hot. Be sure not to burn your hands on anything though. The rotor and calipers get VERY hot, so you may have to wear some gloves ect.....
And be sure to flush that brake fluid out too Eric, it should be done every year anyways.

 

I dont doubt him, but I dont think I have ever come across it on a street car EVER! Maybe he has, I dont know? Race cars are totally understandable, as they brake VERY hard around the track ect.....
Get them checked out anyways mate, he sounds like he knows his sh*t.

 

Sure sounds like a wheel bearing to me.