clunking/rubbing noise from rear pass side

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Glen_S

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My wife's KJ has on again off again rubbing sound, which sounds like its coming from the rear passenger side wheel. At first I thought it was maybe a sticking pad but braking doesn't affect it. I don't think its a u-joint, as the vibration usually increases or decreases on acceleration or deceleration, and I've had enough u-joints go on my truck to know what one feels like.

This noise will manifest itself then suddenly disappear completely, sometimes at slow speeds, sometimes at highway speeds. I pulled the wheel off today to see how the pads are, they still have lots of meat left and all looks ok. Then I took it uptown and the noise started again, this time a clunking sound was also there, when I hit highway speed it was on again off again, and when I got home I had my daughter drive it for a couple of Km's while I leaned out the windows listening but there was nada, nothing at all.

Any ideas?
 

Glen_S

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What year? Sounds like a parking brake issue.

Sorry forgot - it's an 04 with the V6 in it. Was wondering about parking brake - rotors are getting pretty bad so ordering some from Amazon this week - haven't taken a close look at them inside yet but assuming there something like my F250 rotors with the inner drum for park brake.
 

blakeusa

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I have a similar clanking problem in my driver side rear wheel.

I will be taking apart this week, but my guess so far is the wheel bearing.
 

tlrtucker

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I'd lean more on the wheel bearing being the culprit. If it were your brakes, the problem would get worse as you're braking. If you had a dragging caliper or parking brake the rotor would get insanely hot in a short time. Plus you'd smell it after driving it for a while.
 

Glen_S

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I'd lean more on the wheel bearing being the culprit. If it were your brakes, the problem would get worse as you're braking. If you had a dragging caliper or parking brake the rotor would get insanely hot in a short time. Plus you'd smell it after driving it for a while.

When I had the back end up I never checked for play etc, but I will check again when I get a chance. I have my doubts about wheel bearing though, given that it (the sound) completely goes away at times. Anytime I've had a wheel bearing fail there has been a grinding noise and you usually can't drive far on them once they've reached that stage. Also I would think if the WB is gone there should be some heat on the rotor all the time - I took it for an 11km drive trying to get the sound to start again and the rotor hub was not hot at all.

Is the parking brake on these a set of shoes on the inside? I can see if a retaining clip came loose that it might make the on again-off again sound..
 

tlrtucker

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I've replaced about half a dozen wheel bearings on various vehicles and they all came and went at various times and speeds. On my 300M they would grind horrible making turns but silent on the highway. On the ex's Corolla they would hum louder the faster you went but turning didn't make a difference. On my KJ, it would growl at low speeds but get quiet on the highway. Point is, they all act differently, but generally make the same noise, more or less.

I dont get how the parking brake would cause this issue..
 

Glen_S

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Well ordered some new rotors today so when I put them on I'll get to dig a bit deeper into this. The noise I'm hearing doesn't happen at a certain speed or under certain conditions like turning, it's completely random. Yesterday it did it while I was driving in my sub division at about 40KMH, the time before when I heard it it was at highway speed (100kmh) then was still audible when I slowed down, then suddenly just stopped for no apparent reason. Yesterday it was happening while going slow and also at highway speed, then after I made my stop in town and hit the highway again it was completely gone - that's when I had someone else drive it for another 11kms while I listened out the window but it never manifested itself again.

If it is a bearing, are they internal bearings lubricated by the diff fluid? (like my truck is)
 

Porkchop

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Those parking brake shoe pads can come unglued and can float around making the noise come and go seen it a few times some times can also get spit out.
 

Glen_S

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Those parking brake shoe pads can come unglued and can float around making the noise come and go seen it a few times some times can also get spit out.

so a person should be able to see those with the rotor removed I'm assuming?
 

Porkchop

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Yes drum for parking brake is the inside of the rotor check the backing plate for the park brake shoes good when you have it open, seen a couple of those come loose as well.
 

rcjohnson

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When you pull the rotor off the shoes will be there in plain sight. I did my rears two weeks ago and the pad on one of the shoes had cracked in half and fell out as I took the rotor off.
 

Glen_S

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Update - got my new rotors and pads from Amazon, installed them on the weekend and problem is gone. When I pulled the pass side rotor where the noise was coming from the two linings(what was left of them) from the parking brake shoes were lying in the inner drum. That explained the noise. Unfortunately I didn't order shoes and no one in town had them on the weekend, so that's a project for another day - I just put them back together with the shoes bare of lining - parking brake wasn't working anyway and the KJ is an automatic so can get by without it for now.

When I did the drivers side the shoes were tighter in the inner drum and the rotor took a bit of coaxing to get off. lining was loose on one shoe and ok on the other, so I removed the loose lining and put back together as is.

Will order some new parking brake shoes this week - from what I can see they look relatively easy to change, just remove the springs & retaining clip thingy's and they should pop right off. Am I correct in this assumption or does the axle have to be removed to get at them to change them?
 

Snail Farmer

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No you don't need to pull the axle but it comes in handy to have an extra set of hands to hold things together while you reinstall the springs.
 

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