Hi, I have this thumping noise that is happening constantly coming from the suspension/wheel area. It makes a pattern as the wheel goes around, as it goes slower, the noise is more spread out. As I go faster it goes faster in an even pattern. It gets louder when I break. I also have heard it squeeling some, it sounds like a weird tire noise, but my tire looks fine. It was making a creaking noise in an even pattern as I drive too for part of the time. I put in lowering springs like a month ago, about 1.5 inches lower. I got an alignment last week. I don't know if either could be related. Please help me!

 

its a tire rub i would guess. i had a set of 17" on a hatch and it rubbed. but my car was at normal ride height. what size rims are on it?

 

15s I don't think it could be rubbing. It is only on one side too. Thanks for your input though

 

Tire psi; uneven tire wear; camber/caster/toe(alignment problems).

 

It looks like my tires are filled enough. I checked them a couple months ago. The tread is OK. Bad camber and caster could cause this? My toe is ok, its very close to 0. (like .02 on every wheel). I can't remember the exact camber and caster numbers. They were different on each wheel. Camber was around -1.3 on the left side both wheels, but I think it was positive around 1 on the right front wheel. I don't know exactly what the numbers where, but I think they were in the acceptable range on the right side of the car, and the left side was off.
Thanks for your help

 

how about a messed up rotor? squeels when u brake.

 

the squeeling wasn't when I pressed the breaks, it was when I was driving slow. It only happened a few times though. The thumping is constant. The thumping gets louder when I break, but is happening all the time. At first I noticed it because it was so loud when I break.

 

You could have a warped rotor. I am leaning to a bad tire. Take them to a shop and have them rebalanced have the tech check for a broken belt or and other damage to the tread. You might not catch it looking at it on the car but when its spining and you can look at the tread you will see it

 

Obvious thought: check to make sure your lugs are tight. If they are loose at all, it could very easily make the noises you are talking about. Also, maybe try inspecting your axle. See if there is a tear in the boot/leaking axle grease/etc.

 

Thanks everybody for your help!

So I jacked up my car, and there is a tiny hole in my upper ball joint. Could that be causing these noises?

 

Bump, someone help this guy out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alacard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Bump, someone help this guy out </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the bump!


I'm actually a girl!

So the rotor looks OK, but I don't know if I would be able to tell if it was bent.
The axle looks OK, there are no tears in the boot, but I don't know if I would be able to tell if something else was wrong with it. Everything looks fine though. I was reading more, and thought maybe it was a bad upper ball joint, or a bad wheel bearing. I tried that shaking the wheel thing, but everything seemed fine. When I spin the tire everything seems fine too. I heard the noise a little when I was driving today, but it wasn't nearly as bad. The tire on that side feels kind of strange when I'm driving though. I had a post on another site and someone told me it sounded like a bad wheel bearing. Tomorrow I'm getting a mechanic to look at it.

 

Turns out I have a bad upper ball joint.


Modified by em96civicex at 9:19 PM 10/19/2007

 

glad you found it I was also beginning to think the lugs werent tight.