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

[GriffGirl]

I will check for wheel play when I get it out to the shop, hopefully this weekend...

Brake pads are new since I did the drum-to-disc conversion in July. It could be the caliper; I don't remember which side it was but when I did the conversion, one of the calipers was seized. We got it all apart and cleaned out and un-seized, but it's entirely possible that it's the caliper from that side that was the problem one.

I think I forgot to say that the sound is not continual (it also isn't doing it today at all! ) - the sound is as though something is hitting a "high spot" on the rotor. I know that's not really what it is, but it's the best way to describe the sound. My braking is totally normal; there is no pulsating or any indication of a warped rotor.

I'll pull it all apart this weekend or next and see what I can see. By next weekend I will have a replacement hub assembly in-hand and ready to install should that be the case. As long as I don't die on the freeway between now and then, I'm good.

Oh and Joe - no worries, you're not stealing my thunder or threadjacking; we're all here to help each other and to learn! I find it more of a contribution when other people can post that they're having the same problem or whatever. Good way to learn from each other.