Thumping/grinding while turing left...

[cwelty]

I have a 2002 Grand AM that makes a loud thumping/grinding sound from the driver side tire while making left turns all the way through the corner. It stops once the car is going straight. The weird part is it only does it sometimes. I can't get it to make the noise when I want to look at it. It seems to only make the noise after driving for awhile, 10-15 miles. I have checked the CV joint and the boot appreas to be okay. Yesterday I pulled the tire off and noticed in the rotor where the lug studs go through there is play. Every rotor I have pulled off you have to beat the crap out of it to remove it, so I pulled the passenger side rotor off and it is the same. Maybe that is the way they make cars these days, I dunno. I have also read is some past posts the the tires are the culprits sometimes. This car does have Eagle tires. Please help! What is causing this noise!

::edit:: I forgot to say that it seemed like the front lug nuts were bottoming out before they were hitting the rim so we cut off the tops of them and they seem to be tightening all thye way down, so that was maybe unnecessary...

Thanks!
Casey

[Ridenour]

welcome to the forum. How many miles are on your car? I would say you might have bad struts.

[cwelty]

The car has 46,000 miles.

[skibum1111]

Shouldn't be bad struts with low mileage like that, but looking at your description of the problem sounds like either bad struts or bad wheel bearings. Do you have any other noise from that side of the car when you are driving straight?

[cwelty]

There are no odd noises when driving straight. The wheel bearings were one of the first things we checked for. I read on some past posts that a low power steering fluid would make noises so I checked that and it was low. I added fluid so it would be okay. Then we drove it and it still makes the noise. I rolled the window down and listened to the sound and it sounds like metal rubbing on metal. I also tested it to see what it did if I pushed on the brakes. If I turned left normal (w/o brakes) it makes the grinding sound throughout the turn until the car is straight. If I push on the brakes in the turn the noise stops. This makes me want to believe that it is the brakes or the rotors? Is that a good assumption? I'm at a loss for what is wrong.

[skibum1111]

Check the calipers, make sure the bolts are tight. It sounds like the caliper on the drivers side might be a little loose, or possibly the caliper mount is loose.

[cwelty]

It turns out the brake pads were worn out. When I checked the pads four months ago they were almost new looking. Very surprising how quickly they wore out. Thanks for everyones help!