This is in the passenger side rear. It's not a brake caliper, and it feels metallic The suspension has rust. It comes and it goes so I'm wondering just what could be rubbing. When I took off the wheel to inspect, it unloads the suspension and I couldn't hear or feel any rubbing.

Any ideas?

thanks,
Stan

 

my 84 made a rubbing sound. It was the drive shaft rubbing on the heat shields, just bent them a very little and sound went away.

 

yeah i would go with the heatshields and inspect there.

 

when you say metallic, does it sound like 2 metals of the same kind rubbing, like when brake pad studs start grooving on a brake rotor? or is it a mismatched sound?

does it sound scratchy/light or like its digging in?

is it repetative and rhythmic? like it goes with a rotation or a tapping? or is it a clanky unsteady sound?

how many miles on the rear axle components? and last brake job?

 

It's rhythmic and not the grinding, digging sound you get from pad studs hitting a rotor. The disks are smooth still too.
I'm not sure about what the PO did. I just got the car.

thanks.

 

I have similar sound in my SA it only does it when ever I take left hand turn and I am not hiting the brakes if you hit the brakes it does away but as soon as you let off of them it comes back and the faster you go the louder it is.

 

I had a sound similar to that in my car, coming from the right rear after a disc brake rearend swap. Turned out to be the outer brake pad. The anti-rattle clip wasn't in place. I found it in the box of misc hardware, and intalled it, problem solved. The right side caliper and disc were not installed on the rearend when I bought it, so all the hardware for that side was in a box, including those clips. I had just overlooked it when I put it all back together.
Hope that helps.

 

Did the sound go away when you pressed the brake?

 

Yup.

It was just the pad catching on the rotor, and bouncing around. It was speed related, the faster I was going, the faster the sound. Just barely applying the brake, and it disappeared.
Also, just because the rotors appear smooth, they may still have a slight warpage to them. Even as little as .005" can cause the pads to make noise that goes away when the pedal is applied.

 

It might be the slide on your rear caliper is not moving out just right after light braking before turning, and its getting caught up and causing a little brake rub while it kinda hangs after letting off the pedal a little.

It might also be bad front bearings causing too much play, same thing but the front brakes, gen1 front sounds like gen1 rear in some situations. Their is a couple more things it could be, but your description reminds me of something familiar.

Last question, when the sound happens, does it sound like it might escalate from a little rub, to a full rub, to something similar to chalk on a board going 'huuuuuh', and then stopping the noise when braking or turning a little?
(altering the load on the drivetrain) and by the 'huuuuuh' sound, its not the hair standing squeal, its the lower toned resonance.

 

i don't think it's a brake issue. Braking doesn't change the sound. Turning does, not sharp turns, but more of the sweeping kind. It sure seems like a suspension problem (and the suspension is rusty), but I can't see any rubbed areas or see anything obvisous that could be the problem.

 

I will have to guess, without hearing it first hand, maybe an inspection of the rear unit. Specifically the retaining plate, maybe the bearing is wearing out and causing it to spin the whole unit. your 85' is the big axle type, should not be the problem unless maybe its been driven all kinds of hard.

I'm at a loss, i dont know the problem for sure. gl2ya

 

Yes a "funny sound" is hard to diagnose without hearing it, but I was just trying to see if someone else had a similar problem in the past. If I figure out what the deal is I'll post it here for someone else's reference.
-I'm probably going to sell the car anyway (it's an auto), but will be sure to tell what I know about the car instead of letting the buyer find out the hard way...



thanks,
Stan

 

I have this same sound.

Why?

I just replaced the right rear wheel cylinder.

Yes it is probably brake related, but I did not leave any parts uninstalled.

I am going to take it apart and see again.

 

Did it make that noise before you replaced the brake cylinder?

 

Nope. No noise but a very bad brake fluid leak from it. So had to mess with it.

I don't know what is making the noise since everything is well put together.

 

check to make sure your hand break cables are not touching the wheel.

 

Hmmm...it is leaking some brake fluid.
And if the hand brake was hanging wouldn't it feel like it was pulling on that side? Maybe the hand brake rubbing is why it doesn't change when I brake.

I'll check it out when I get the chance.