Driver's Side Rear Wheel Clicking
 

Hey all...

Currently, my driver's side rear wheel is clicking. Can anyone help me diagnose it and point me where to look further?

A little history...

• Had tires rotated at one shop
  • Rear lug nuts started to become loose
• Had everything re-tightened at a new shop
• Front-wheel alignment and front tire balance at a new shop
  • New shop would not balance rear tires until it was confirmed the first shop did not damage the wheels as the lug nuts were coming loose
  • Had wheels inspected and put back on
  • Heels do not seem damaged
• Clicking noise appeared after the wheels were taken off, inspected and put back on.
  • I also watched the whole process and the shop wedged my wheel between the caliper and fender. I noticed when they moved it out the tire seemed to catch something and make a springy sound. I have inspected my calibers along with the new shop and they seem fine (pins / springs).
• Had new shop balance and inspect rear wheels as source of clicking sound
  • Informed me the clicking is due to the brake pads getting worn down, but I feel something is being missed.

The clicking sound seemed to go away for about 20-30 miles then it started up again. It does not seem as intense as before.

More details of when I hear it...

• Upon acceleration / reversing
• Very rhythmic
• Lower speeds it is more pronounced
• Sounds metalish like it is the dust shield
• I am not seeing any grooving on the front side of the rotor
• It will also appear while I am slowing down without the use of brake or letting off the gas

I have read there is a nut that attaches the hub to the axle? Is this correct?

I also have taken the time to listen to where the sound is coming from. I thought maybe it was the drive shaft, but the sound is pronounced on the left side and very dull when i listen to it on the right. When I hear the noise it seems like something 'catches' then the sound appears.

I came across this thread (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-clicking.html). I was leaning towards something lodged between the dust shield and rotor, but the noise completely went away for about 20-30 miles.

I will be taking off the wheel this weekend to inspect further. Has anyone experienced this? Anywhere else I should look?

All-in-all, the front wheel alignment and balance done by the second shop completely smoothed out my ride. The second shop did end up balancing my tires for free, but they still seemed off. After the wheels were determined to not be damaged, the second shop did a great job on the tire balance. My ride is so smooth, but it CLICKS! lol =D

Thanks in advance!

Curious...could the lug nuts coming loose while driving cause damage to the axle?

I had the same issue... it was my axle that was making the noise. Hope that helps you narrow your diagnostics

Did you replace the axle or was there something else done?

Does it make sense that I do not hear the clicking when I do not apply throttle?

On my is350 i have 207k miles and I have replaced most of the suspension parts. Ive only had to replace the wheel bearing on the passenger side, after i hit a 2x4 on the freeway and it broke the bearing. The symptom was a clicking noise, under 25 mph and then a weird vibration at 75-80mph. i could not tell what it was and i had my mechanic look at it, but he could not tell without taking it apart if it was not operating correctly. I just ended up getting one on ebay for around 50 bucks shipped and replaced it and all noise related issues disappeared. the click noise is rhythmic, and it just sounds like sand is in that mfer, but i have one waiting for my driver side for my mechanic to replace it and i know the noise will go away. The loose lug nuts on your ride may have caused the bearing to fail and now it makes a noise when it rotates. at lower speeds is when the bearing has to work harder because your suspension works hardest when it is going slow so the most stress is at that 25mph level. when you apply throttle it may not make noise or a lessor noise, im not sure what causes it to go away when you apply throttle. maybe it has something to do with the centrifugal forces, lol. Good luck man. If you dont replace it soon it may cause uneven tire wear.

did you end up changing both wheel bearings? I have the same problem and it's driving me nuts.

Have them check the parking brake assembly? Sounds like you have the same issue that I could not figure out on my 07 Lexus IS250 for more than 6 months until I had my brakes done. Coincidentally they "MISSED" it during the first inspection & did not realize what had happened until they were putting on the last rotor on rear passenger side. They found that the parking brake assembly had completely fallen apart and the springs that are attached behind the wheel hub were the culprits causing the noise.

The noise wasn't very loud the first few months.. but it seemed to have got louder after a rain storm one day. It indeed did sound like something was grinding against the dust shield. It ended up getting so loud that it almost sounded like my brakes were grinding metal on metal! But I checked my brakes over & over and they were fine.
It was:
rhythmic as well
heard upon accelerating/reversing
I too could also hear it while slowing down without using the brakes


So definitely worth a shot, checking out those springs attached to the parking assembly within/behind wheel hub assembly. I hope this helps, keep us updated !

It is definitely your axle I had the same problem recently. I put my car up on a lift and put chassis ears close enough to the axle, so that the ears could pick up any noise. since the car wasn't under any load while on the lift usually you wont hear the noise when you spin the wheels but with the chassis ears you pick up every little sound. Sure enough it was my axle. My suggestion is buy the axle and replace it yourself, its really easy takes about 30-40 min and it'll be so much cheaper than going to a shop to get it done. Also in the rare occasion you find out that the axle is not the issue I would check out your wheel hub bearing assembly, if you spin it and hear a really faint grinding noise that's when you know its time to change them. Hope this helps

Also I forgot to add, it makes more sense that it would be the axle because as you said you only hear it when you press on the throttle. The axle is being put under more work and stress when you press on the throttle therefore the sound is more predominant as opposed to when your foot is off the gas pedal. If that makes sense.