[John V.]

Got them installed yesterday. Noise is gone.

Couldn't detect any issue with either old bearing when spinning them by hand, no roughness, noise, or damage noted.

All fasteners broke free with little effort. Axle nut is most likely 33 mm, used the 34 mm socket in the Advance loaner kit, a little loose but worked fine. Torqueing it proved easier than for the hub attachment bolts. Trying to put 96 ft-lbs on those small heads with a long extension and working backwards was a challenge, the rear one on both sides I wound up starting to round but they are torqued good. The caliper bracket bolt heads have extended heads, they were easier to torque.

I tend to be gentle on brakes anyway and this car is mostly on the highway but I impressed even myself how little pad wear after 111,000 miles on the OE pads. So won't be needing brakes any time soon. That's good.

Couple bobbles but nothing crazy. I broke a 15 mm Craftsman short socket tightening a caliper bracket bolt, not sure why. I was more concerned about using the HF deep socket, but it held up.

Thanks for all the advice and help.

[John V.]

Spoke too soon. I'm bummed. Drove it 15 miles yesterday, nothing unusual, up to 55 mph.

Just back from 5 mile drive to the store. On the return, I hear something rubbing on the left side.

Like every revolution. I'm thinking maybe the ABS sensor wire is rubbing on the CV boot, the rub sound is rubber.

Get home, check both sides, looks like the wires have clearance. Nothing obvious.

Take it for a low speed drive, window open. Very pronounced rub. Once per revolution, not continuous.

Also, when I hit the brakes kinda hard from low speed, it makes a single clunk sound. Don't notice that with normal application of brake, just from 20 mph and stab the brakes.

Got company coming for dinner, so whatever it is, will have to wait til tomorrow.

But I musta done something wrong.

Any ideas what?

Brad, what is the torque spec for the Caliper Bracket mounting bolts (not the caliper bolts, never touched them).

What could be rubbing the CV boot, could it be internal?

[Sirrotica]

133 front caliper bracket bolts.

I'd look at rust on the caliper fins or the inner edge of the rotor for rust buildup for a rubbing noise. I usually take a hammer and hit the loose rust deposits and knock them off as disturbing them sometimes will shift them enough to make them rub the caliper or brackets.

If I think of any other circumstances I've run into I will post them, but rust is usually what I've encountered in the past.

[John V.]

Thanks. It definitely sounds like rubber, not metallic. Rotors had very little corrosion.

But I will give it some taps with a hammer, see if it does anything.

The clunk bothers me too, as if I left something loose.

I know I did not torque the bracket bolts to 133.

As mentioned, I cracked my 3/8" drive 15 mm Craftsman socket, was afraid I would crack the HF socket so just cranked them to what I thought was tight enough on the right side and left it.

On the left side, I torqued them to 120 and it is the left side where I'm getting the rub and the clunk.

Do I need to find a 1/2" drive 15 mm socket? I just don't think that 3/8" drive socket will stand 133.

Thanks for offering up what you can. I will pull the wheel off and report back after I hammer a bit on the rotor.

[Sirrotica]

A 1/2 inch drive socket would probably be a good idea. FYI crapsman isn't the quality it used to be, The HF may take more twist than the Sears stuff. HF has seemed to stepped up their quality the last few years on their hand tools, as well as all of their tools. I have absolutely NO faith in crapsman stuff and quit buying their tools years ago.

Stanley tools are made off shore also, but are of good quality and reasonably priced and I have never broken one of their sockets. Wally world has a good selection, Home Depot Husky brand is often Husky branded Stanley manufactured tools. Not all Husky is made by Stanley, but a good deal of it is. Stanley and Husky have the same guarantee that Sears does, and your less likely to need to use it.

[John V.]

Got it back up on the jackstands this morning.

Wheels straight ahead, I get a little "scraping" noise from the pads dragging on the rotor on high spots. Nothing unusual I think and definitely metallic sound. Not what I was hearing.

Then I cranked the wheel all the way to the right and spun the tire. Immediately I hear the rubber squeak as the tire rotates.

The outer CV joint boot "pleats" are rubbing together and "squeaking", a rubber type squeak. I did wipe them "clean" during the repair, they weren't real dirty or greasy and I just gave them a few wipes, didn't try to make them look squeaky clean, but it seems that is what happened.

Both sides are doing it although when I was driving I only sensed it on the left and heard it even when going pretty much straight.

But sure sounds like this is what I heard on the road.

Same thing when I crank it to the left. And then I checked when cranked only partially to either direction. The rubber squeak is diminished, but I can hear it while spinning the tire.

Next, I sprayed each boot with water to see if the squeak would go away with a little "lubrication".

No luck and my next worry was that somehow the lubrication on the inside of the boots had been wiped away. I didn't inspect inside the boot or touch it in anyway except to push in on the end of the axle while removing the bearing. So I was trying to convince myself the squeak was NOT internal to the boot.

So I tried one more lubricant, I wiped wet bar soap onto the boot and lo and behold the squeak went away!

Now I need to know, is there a proper lubricant that won't harm the rubber/plastic/whatever material boot that won't wash away and will keep it from squeaking long term?

[Sirrotica]

Spray silicone is what I'd recommend, won't hurt rubber, and dries while still lubricating.

[John V.]

Well I give up.

Sprayed them with silicone while still on the stands after cleaning off the soap and letting them dry.

Both boots start squeaking while on the stands. So I wash off the silicone and spread bar soap on them again. No squeaks on the stands, so I go for a drive.

After about a mile of driving at 25 mph, suddenly the squeak comes back. Seems like left side only but hard for me to tell, it is pretty loud, so if the right side is also squeaking I can't tell from the driver seat. By the time I return home it is a steady rubbing rubber squeak.

Next I pour dish soap on them. I get about a block from my driveway and the squeaks start again.

So next I dust them with talc powder without putting them on the stands. Still squeaking. So I put it up on stands again, no squeaking but proceed to dust inners and outers thoroughly and spray silicone on the stabilizer bushings for good measure. Go for a drive, squeak again starts about a block away.

Last shot, I spray silicone on the outer boots. Again the squeak starts after about a block.

Once it starts, it is consistent. Seems to worsen when I gentle turn to the left and for a few moments will quiet when turned back straight, but is always there.

I feel beaten. I've been frustrated by car repair before, but this one has kicked my butt.

Sorry to vent. I appreciate all the help but looks like something is amiss and I have no idea what it could be.

Will head to the shop and see if they have a solution.

[johnta1]

Maybe try Armor-All?

It may make it 'slick' enough and stay that way for awhile.

[John V.]

So I jump in the car this morning to drive to a shop about 10 miles away. Start out, no rubber rubbing/squeaking. But it has come and gone over the last 2 days, so I fully expect it to start squeaking at any moment. After about 6 miles, I've heard nothing, then at slow speed, I hear it faintly for a couple revolutions max, I may have been pulling away from a stop sign, can't remember. That's it, get to the shop and no rubbing.

I had planned all along to take it to this shop for a front end alignment anyway. So they say they will charge $42.50 to check out the front end noise after I describe the whole story, including the fact that it isn't doing it now. I asked, what happens if you can't find the problem. Mechanic (good guy) says, oh if it's making a noise, we'll find it.

So off he goes for a test drive. Comes back, thought he heard it once when turning into a parking lot for a second or two but otherwise nothing.

He puts it on the alignment rack, puts it in drive, allows the tires to spin while he listens and watches. Turns the wheel to full lock in both directions, still nothing. Finds nothing loose. Gets another mechanic to come over and check with him. They go off for another test drive. Not a peep from that dang CV boot.

Yesterday, it was no faint noise and it was continuous once it started, people on the street heard it loud and clear as I drove past them.

He checks the axle nut torque, clicks at 118. He pulls the axle nut off on both sides, runs them back on, torques to 118. Whatever was rubbing the past 2 days, it isn't doing it today.

I said my concern is that the next time I drive in rain, all that stuff I put on the boot yesterday will wash away and I wonder if the rubbing/squeaking will come back then. I thought he might wash off the boots to see what would happen, but he didn't and I kinda felt, leave well enough alone at this point.

He goes ahead and does the alignment. If it starts rubbing again, tells me to come on back and he'll look again.

Afterwards, I drive it 40 miles before parking it. Not a single squeak, all kinds of turns and speeds.

Good news and bad news. Good news, with the out of round wheel gone, new tires, new bearings, and wheels aligned (toe was off), vibration and dash rattles are gone, car drives smoother than I can ever remember.

Bad news, I'll be on pins and needles wondering if the squeak will be there next time I take it for a drive since I have no idea why it was squeaking and no repairs have been made to fix it.

On the theory that things generally don't fix themselves, it will be awhile before I'll stop worrying about it. But hopefully, that noise is gone for good.

[Stuckinda60s]

A couple of items:

1. If you're going to run the car with one wheel on the ground and one spinning freely, you'd better be really sure that the traction control is disabled!

2. Did you make sure and reinstall the boots in a neutral position? If they're at all twisted/preloaded, that might cause a noise because the boot is flexing all of the time, as well as causing premature wear. Anything coating the boot might be enough to dampen the vibration for a short time.

[John V.]

As far as I know, the boots never moved when I installed the new hub assemblies.

They are the O.E. boots, look like new, original clamps. I've now driven several hundred miles since the last time they squeaked.

On the alignment rack, the suspension is supported with BOTH wheels off the ground but not "hanging" down. IOW, the wheels essentially as if they were on the ground but the tires not contacting anything.

I didn't think about the TC but the mechanic would alternately chock/block one wheel as he checked side to side for noise. As I reported, every time I drove it to test the day before, the boots squeaked LOUDLY. But the next morning, no squeak on the way to the shop, and they haven't squeaked since.

I haven't tried to clean the boots in any way, and haven't driven in rain yet. But I think the squeak is cured. And eventually the soap and talc will wash away.

I'm trying to wrap my head around whether the boots could have been twisted if they were never removed from the CV joint?

All I did was spin the rotor with the wheels off while checking for bearing noise. Hearing none, I just proceeded to R&R both hub assemblies.

When I installed the axle nut, could the boot get twisted then?

If twisting was the reason the boots were rubbing, maybe the boot clamp has slipped enough to realign the boots to neutral?

I can say that when I applied the soap and dusted the talc, the boots looked "neutral" to me, I didn't get any sense that they were "wound" up like a spring. But the rubber squeak was very loud, similar to a badly slipping fan belt except rubber against rubber.

I can't explain it, that's for sure. Don't know why the boots started squeaking and I sure don't know why they stopped squeaking.

[Stuckinda60s]

If the clamps weren't loosened, I don't see how the boots would be twisted, I was just tossing a possibility in the mix. In reference to the TC being off, I was under the impression that the wheel on the ground could be forced to spin by the brake being applied to the spinning wheel by the TC and that they were unlike a limited slip in that respect.