2002 Focus - sound front passenger wheel

Hello,

We just purchased a 2002 Ford Focus with 98,000 miles on it today. We are now noticing a sound coming from the passenger side front tire/wheel area. It is very audible when inside the car and barely audible when standing outside the car when it is in motion. It is very similar to the sound you might hear if a stick was stuck in the spoke of a bicycle or something. The sound occurs once in every rotation of the tire, so it is less frequent when going slow, more frequent as we speed up. It is not audible when driving over about 30 miles per hour.

The car seems to be steering fine and is in very good alignment. When we took the decorative cover off, we saw nothing stuck in the rim or tire area. I am stumped.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Put the vehicle on jack stands. Remove the front caliper just support it out of the way. Put the vehicle in drive do you here it at this time. Look for a damaged CV boot. You may have a bad front wheel bearing. By removing the caliper you will be sure its not the brake. If no noise install the caliper and retry it again. Inspect everything closely for wear. Look for any area a tire is rubbing.

Thank for your reply. We ended up stopping by Monroe today and had a mechanic look at it. Definitely is right front wheel bearing. Guess we are lucky it is still under a 90 day warranty and they will cover all but $100 of it. Thanks again.

I had this kind of problem twice. First at about 104K and just recently at 186K. Year 2002 zx3. Actually, there were two kinds of noises. One when turning and the other when it hit a bump.

At 104K, my pass front coil broke. I had to replace the front coils and struts. The noise was gone.

Recently, I heard the noise again and I replaced the struts right away before the coil breaks again. You know, when your struts/shocks are weak, there'll be more stress on your coil because of the movement. I also had to take it to the shop for wheel alignment. The noise is gone and running solid now.

I am just so happy with this car. I am getting 27mpg on hiway at 75mph.