Thread: Grinding noise when travelling

Hi all,
I've been lurking for a while and not posted much cos up till now the Disco's been behaving itself. But ever since I bought the car it's had a bit of a grindy noise when moving, but it's getting gradually worse and I have some time off soon so I figured it's time to look at what it might be. Especially if my thoughts are right, it probably ought to be sorted sooner rather than later.

Anyway, the signs and symptoms:

Grinding sort of 'choof choof'ing noise when vehicle travels above about 30kph.

Noise appears to be sort of 'ambient' - that is, it's not coming from any particular direction. (Leading me to suspect some sort of drivetrain issue rather than a wheel).

Grinding can be felt (albeit quite lightly) through floorpan.

The noise doesn't change in pitch when going faster, but the gap between 'choofs' is reduced. (ie, the choofs get faster, but don't change the tone)

Current research tends to indicate it might be propshaft UJ failing - what do other people think before I go taking it all to bits?

Also, if it is the UJ failing, I found a tute that showed me how to rebuild it with new caps, new spider and needle rollers, but I'm not sure where I would get such a kit here in Sunbury (Vic) - can anyone suggest any pointers for where I could pick something like that up?

Cheers in advance!
Steve.

So I finally got around to having a play with the Disco, I lifted all 4 wheels seperately and the final one (always the way eh?) had a fairly grindy noise when spinning (well, more of a rumbling sound, but it was definitely noisier than the other 3) and a fair bit of play in it when trying to 'flex' the wheel from top to bottom.

There were no nasty noises from the props or handbrake system while rotating the wheels.

So my conclusion is that it's probably front left wheel bearing. With that in mind I set about taking it all apart. Disconnected brake caliper, took hub cover off (if thats what you call that thing with 6 17ml bolts attaching to the rotor) - hub cover had no proper seal, just some silicone that was missing in a few spots and leaked grease all over the show.

I expected to find a dried out and destroyed bearing but to my surprise it actually all looked quite good. The stub axle is quite dry, but inside the hub looks quite well greased. The races look like they're all in good nick, and I can't figure out if I've done something wrong because all the 'howtos' I've read said I'd need to punch out races with a punch and they'd probably be welded to the inside of things. There's none of that....

So have I just taken apart a perfectly good set of bearings? Or could they still be noisy and waiting to seize even if they look greased up and happy?

Also, it looks like I'll need to seperate the brake disk from the hub section? Is it just a set of bolts to undo or is there more to it?

Thanks for your help folks!

Steve.

EDIT: I think the bit I need to punch out is the bearing track? New bearings come with new tracks I assume!