Grinding Noise from Front Wheels

I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am GT. I have a problem with a grinding noise that seems to be coming from my front wheels. I've replaced the brake pads once and this had no affect at all on the sound. It seems to be much louder when the air outside is colder. I've taken the car in to be looked at twice and both times the mechanics say it's "normal" and just normal wheel wear that can't be fixed. How can this horrible grinding sound be normal??. Has anyone else experienced this with their Grand Am? If so, did you have it fixed?

could be a bad bearing or you might want to look into getting the rotors turned. how many miles do you have? sometimes the rotors will sort of warp a little after 50k miles or so if they havent been turned. Also it could be bad front tires, but more than likely its hte rotors or a bearing

it just recently rolled over 46,000 miles, so maybe i'll have those rotors checked out...it makes sense that it could be a warped rotor, because the sound it makes is a rhythmic grinding sound like you'd expect from a warped rotor

thanx for the input Tom

Just a little agitated right now with my 2000 Pontiac Grand AM GT. Grinding noises coming from front end (right side) shortly after putting new tires on last fall. Noise went away after swaping the front tires. Noise came back July and had a complete tire rotation done, once again the noise is gone. I had my front rotors (supposedly)cleaned, and brakes checked (were sitting at 70%) after my tire rotation. I've only put on 5,000km sicnce my last inspection and now the noise is back and getting lowder. At 1st it sounded like I was driving on a flat and now it's a grinding sound that is very noticeable off the gas as well as braking. Any advice? I plan on taking it in tomorrow to have my tires switched yet again, if noise disappears...and clue as to why this is happening? Oh, GM also told me that my tires aren't experiencing any abnormal wear and tear...HUMMMMM
Thanks,

they keep telling me the same thing...that this sound is "normal wear noise"...i just can't buy that......now, just this past week, we had a REALLY bad storm here...i was driving through some streets with water about 1 ft. deep...after driving through that mess, i noticed the grinding noise from my front, driver-side tire stopped...it didn't make a single sound all weekend until yesterday it just started right back up again...so now i don't know what to do...drive it through a river once a week?

they keep telling me the same thing...that this sound is "normal wear noise"...i just can't buy that......now, just this past week, we had a REALLY bad storm here...i was driving through some streets with water about 1 ft. deep...after driving through that mess, i noticed the grinding noise from my front, driver-side tire stopped...it didn't make a single sound all weekend until yesterday it just started right back up again...so now i don't know what to do...drive it through a river once a week?

Have you had you tires changed? and if so, did this noise start after you got different tires other than manufacture?

Well, once again I had the 2 front tires switched and the noise is gone. The tire place still insists on it being a brake problem. I had the car taken for a test drive by a repair shop and was told that it is not a brake problem and most likely a faulty tire or rim. Definitly not a ball joint problem because the car would behave differently. Soooooo, I've decided to take some advice that was given to me..... I plan on waiting until this annoying noise comes back as it will. I'm going to go back to where I got my tires from and get them to put on a set of tires and different rims on the front to see if the noise goes away. If it does, than I was told that it may be a rim problem, or, someone else said that it could be that the alignment wasn't set to manfacture regulation which I don't understand as when I got the car (1 yr ago) I had manufacture tires and rims and the only thing I changed was the tires. So, I'm still frustrated and need this matter fixed. When my front tires were off, there was noticeable rub marks in the wheelwells but more so on the right ( where the noise is coming from), but not sure if it has always been there. Also, the tire shop told me that my front tires were feathering, whatever THAT means!!
Tammy

what size are your tires they put on? read the numbers on the side. If yougive me the last 8-digits to your VIN#, I can tell you what size it had factory. It sounds to me like the tire place put the wrong size on, because that is the only thing that could cause the rub marks in the wheel wells. If they put the wrong size tires on it, I would demand that they replace them with factory size tires, unless you requested wider tires when you bought them, then you're responsible for the expense of replacements.

My dad has an 02 se, and the car has a sort of grinding noise when you brake, is this when your car makes the noise? or anytime its moving? It seems to me that its just dirt or something else between the brake pads and rotor. I think its the way the rims on these cars are. When the one guy said he drove through the water, it may have cleaned them off. Then more dirt and crap got on em and they started to make the noise again. Thats just my 2 cents. I say that its only dirt or other crap because there is no effect in the braking quality, if you had bad pads or a warped rotor, you most likely would feel it in the pedal. just my :2cents:

Well, I haven't heard any grinding noises from my front right end in a long time. I'm actually beginning to wonder if the tire place just didnt' put my tires on right :confused: :disappoin
I'm also almost due for a tire rotation and almost don't want to do it for fear that it will come back. At least the tire place where I bought my tires won't be the ones doing it.
For anyone who has had this problem I suggest for you to find some one you trust to take your tires off, check the wheel-well area for rubbing as I had rub marks on the side that the grinding noise was coming from.
Have them switch the two front tires (I know you're not suppose to do that, but I betting that the tire team didn't do a proper tire rotation in the 1st place and hense my grinding noise started) and have them take their time putting them back on. I had this done and it's been 3mths since my last grinding noise session.
My car came with manufactored low (think that's right)performance tires and when it was time to have them replaced, I had the same style tires put on. Didn't change the tire size although I could increase the size by 1 and would have no effect on the wheelwell.
Good luck
Tammy

I had the same grinding noise you have described on a 2002 Grand Am GT. It has the low profile tires 225-50 Goodyear Eagles. The dealer instantly knoew about the problem and replaced both front tires under warranty. It seems this was a know problem with the early Eagle tires. They had a series of ribs perpindicular to the rim that would rub against the rim bead and make this grinding noise. It was hard for me to believe. 3 months later after I rotated my tires, front to back, the noise returned (the original tires were still on the back) so I went back to the dealer and he installed another 2 new tires. I asked him why he did not change all four when doing the original work and he stated that GM would only authorize 2 at a time. Oh well, I got 4 new tires at 30,000 miles under warranty. Now if someone could just help me with the front end noise on my 96 GT.