I just replaced the rotors and left side ball joints on my '99 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban about a week ago, which involved me having to remove the left side driveaxle and the bearing/hub assembly to replace the rotor and to gain access to replace the lower ball joint.

Ever since putting it back together, I've been getting a strange metallic/ripping/clicking noise from the left front wheel while moving. It seems to get slightly louder when I hit the brakes, but the noise is present all the time the truck is moving, and it varies with speed.

I double checked all the bolts I removed for tightness, and everything is tight and looks good. I tried jacking the truck up by the frame (front wheel hanging off the ground, suspension unloaded), and spun the left wheel by hand to listen for the sound, but I couldn't hear it.

Is it possible I damaged the CV joints or the wheel bearings when I removed the driveaxle and hub? I did use a MAPP gas torch to heat up the 4 hub flange bolts since they were rusted on tight, but I was careful to apply the heat to the bolt heads only. There is no play in the wheel bearings when pushing and pulling on the top and bottom of the wheel with the wheel off the ground. There was no excessive heat in the hub after driving either. Would it be possible to have noisy wheel bearings with no play and no heat issues? The bearings are sealed in the hub as a unit, so I don't see how I could have messed them up, unless torch heat got to them, but the rubber grease seals on the outsie of the hub were OK.

I'm thinking I somehow screwed up the CV joints, and that's what is making the noise, but I can't explain why the noise only happens when there is weight on the tire, and not while jacked up off the ground, unless it is the angle of the CV joints that cause the noise on a loaded suspension versus unloaded? I need to try jacking the truck up under the lower control arm and try spinning the wheel with the suspension loaded. If it still makes the noise this way, I suppose it is safe to say it is the CV joints, but if the noise still isn't there, then it must be the wheel bearings - is this an accurate diagnosis? I just want to make sure I identify the source of the noise before replacing expensive parts that don't need to be replaced.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sounds like a bad CV shaft.

Sounds like a bad CV shaft.

Thanks for the reply. I jacked up the truck last night under the lower control arm so the suspension was still loaded and tried spinning the wheel by hand and listened for the noise. I couldn't hear much, but there was a slight clicking sound (almost like a gear noise) coming from the CV joints as I turned the wheel, but it was much much quieter than when I drive the truck. I could barely hear it. I tried the same thing on the right wheel, and there was no noise at all from the CV joints on that side.

So there is definitely something funky with the left side driveaxle, but I still can't explain why it is so much noisier when driving versus turning the wheel by hand off the ground with the suspension loaded. I would think weight on the wheel wouldn't matter with a CV joint making noise. :confused:

There is definatly more load on it when driving, turning, etc. 9 chances out of 10 when you have a cv shaft go bad you will hear the clicking noise more when turning than any other time.

I feel like an idiot - it turned out to be a loose lug nut! I thought it was tight, but the wheel stud knurled portion wasn't fully seated in the new rotor, and the back of the stud was rubbing against the steering knuckle. Everything nice and quiet now :)

Thanks for the suggestions!