Front end noise, rough brake pedal

[arniep]

I have a 2005 Vibe with 18000 miles on it. The car has always made alittle noise when braking. I was told this was normal. Now I hear and feel a slight noise coming from the front left side that sounds like a bearing noise. This happens at any speed, especially at slow speeds on a smooth road. My dealer said this was due to cupped tires which I hace great trouble believing. When I apply the brake I can feel the vibration corresponding to the noise.I think I have a bad front whel bearing, but my dealer thinks I am crazy.Any help or ideas (concerning the car, not me being crazy)?

[joatmon]

It's hard to say from over here I haven't had cupped tires, so I am not sure what they feel like when you step on the brakes, but it seems like a lot of vibers have had the factory tires go bad, Is the feeling/sound a vibration or pulsing, or is it more like a abrasive grinding? I am not sure about the warranty on the tires, but anything else should still be covered by warranty. If you can't see cupping on the tires, then maybe take it to an independent tire shop and ask them to look at them. If the tires are cupped, then it could be just crappy tires, or some alignment problem. You'd want your alignment to be good for tire wear and for best fuel efficiency, so if the tires are cupped, get the alignment checked as well.

[arniep]

The problem is pulsing, abrasive grinding, and a "rotatioanal roar." I have cupped tires on my 4-Runner, and getvibration and a slight noise only at higher running speeds. Cupping should not be evident at 15 mph. I have rotated the tires, and the problem does not change.Thanks for your response.

[joatmon]

If it were my car, I would probably chock the wheels, jack up the front left side, put the car in neiutral and spin the wheel to see if you can hear the noise just by moving that wheel. If so, then I'd take off the tire and the brake pads from that wheel, and spin it some more, see if the noise goes away or is changed. Maybe even rig up some sort of homemade runout gague to see if there is any wobble or variation in the rotor. Brake and rotors are a lot easier than wheel bearings, so I'd check out the easy stuff first. After that, then look into bearings, CV joints, etc. But I am out of warranty, you are not, so you shouldn't have to do that yourself, if you are sure its not the tires, then it should be covered under warranty. Sounds like the problem might be convincing the dealer that there is something wrong. Maybe drive a new one, make them do a comparison, yours vs. new to demonstrate the difference. There have been only one or two reports of wheel bearing problems so far, and to lose one by 18K miles is surprising, if it is a bearing. At 18K, the only wheel related problems you should have is perhaps a warped rotor, if you somehow overheated them, and down in VA Beach, it's not like you spend a lot of time riding the brakes coming down mountains. and a warped rotor might give you pulsing, but shoudln't give you abrasive rotational roar. just out of curiosity, is your 05 vibe base 5 speed/auto. AWD. GT? shouldn't make a difference for front wheel related problemsI don't know what else to offer, other than good luck, and when you get it figured out, let us know what was up.

[Sublimewind]

If your wheel bearing Is going, you should be able to get moving and crank the steering wheel left to right and "change" the sound.... I wouldn't do this at 80mph, but say 30... If you hear a change in the sound as you do this you likely have a bad bearing...