How to tell if wheel bearing or ball joint is bad?, Updated! Options

[GriffGirl]

There are bad, evil, rubbing/grinding noises (sounds dirty heh heh) coming from my rear passenger wheel. Actually it sounds like the backing plate is rubbing against the rotor, but I'm pretty certain that's not what's going on. The sound is definitely related to the rotation of the wheel; it's louder when I go slower too although that could just be because there's less road noise to drown out the sound. The noise sounds not unlike when brake pads are completely worn and it's metal on metal - it's that grinding noise, not a squealing or high pitched noise at all. It's really loud from the driver's side though, I can only imagine what it sounds like outside the car!

I'm leaning toward bad wheel bearing but I wanted to check with you guys first to get some tips and ideas before I go buying the wrong part.

This post has been edited by GriffGirl: Feb 2, 2009 - 12:11 PM

[Salica]

thats funny I have the same noise coming from my passenger back. I currently changed my rear struts, when i did this i removed my rear brakes after i had them all installed i realized i installed them (the brake pads) backwards from what they were originally. Not sure if that is the sound but i do know i didnt have the sound prior to my **** up.. SO yea maybe take a look around there.

This post has been edited by Salica: Jan 23, 2009 - 3:44 AM