Rubbing Grinding Sound, what is it?

[thuy1m]

Hi Everyone and Anyone who can help:

I started hearing this kind of rubbing or perhaps squeeky sound only when my tires are moving. As the tires move slower, the sounds becomes more apparent and it slows down too. If I start going faster, the sound goes faster and becomes very faint, barely noticeable until you slow down again to about 10 - 15 miles per hour. It sounds like it's coming from my front left tire area. The sound is a consistent sound. As the tires rotate, the sounds is the same with each tire rotation. When I am at a complete stop, the sound disappears. The squeeky sound sounds like a person is jumping up and down on a spring mattress and it moves in synch with each tire rotation.

I thought it was the brakes and so went in to the mechanics to have them do the following: resurface the rotors in the front, replace new pads, then put new pads in the back wheels and they also replace the calibers (basically they took apart my front and rear brakes and redid the whole thing)

now I got it back, picked it up from the person who picked it up at the shop for me and the sound is still there. It's Sunday and the shop is closed until tomorrow.

is it a bearing problem? wouldn't the mechanis automatically look at the bearings if they take apart the brakes? or is that another step?

[tubjub]

bearings... more than likely, have a close inspection of your ball joints, tie rod, and strut assembly... don't rule out the half shaft eiether... good chance the bearings are gone... it happens!

[thuy1m]

I found out the problem. It's the Odometer. The odometer/speedometer goes round and round with your tire rotation and is/was the culprit. After seeing the mechanic on Monday, he went in the car with me and listened to the sound. He immediately suspected the odometer. I had to make sure so I asked him to remove the odometer box and we took my tercel 97 for a test drive. Sure enough the sound is gone. After the mechanic put the odomoter box back in my vehicle, I was okay living with the sound but it too disappeared. So perhaps just taking apart the odometer and putting it back made the sound go away. I don't know how long the sound will disappear for but at least I know now, it's nothing major. So I guess for those of you seeking help on your car problems, this sound is more of a rotational sound coming from the driver's front seat side. The sound will be more apparent when you go slower, around 5-30 mph. If you come to a complete brake, the sound stops. The sound is very consistent and regular with the speed of your wheel rotation and you can hear it very well with all the windows rolled up. I would have never guessed in a million years this would be the problem but it is. Thanks everyone and anyone who can help.