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Clicking From the Drivers Side Rear Wheel

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:27 pm
by reliablejunkie
Heya everyone, I am having some trouble with my drivers side rear wheel. On each rotation i get a click that sounds like a stick in the spokes of a wheel and is quite loud and it has been driving me mental for the last couple months. I originally thought it was the axle so i took both rear axles out and rebuilt them and popped them back in which didn't change anything. i jacked up the car and gave the wheel a good wiggle about but there is no movement so it can't be a wheel bearing. I took the wheel off and spun the brake rotor around and i noticed at a certain point in the rotation it gets a bit tougher to twist and the rotor touches the brake pad slightly making the rotor warped in shape slightly so a new one of them will be on its way shortly but touching the brake pad wouldn't make a loud clicking noise would it? Has anyone else had this problem? I have tightened every bolt on the axle and brake caliper which hasn't changed anything.

Thanks in advance for the advice.
Tristan

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 7:07 pm
by djz
Does it happen when you spin the wheel both directions?

What year is your car? The early ones had really ugly looking rear calipers with pins to hold the pads in so there could be some slop where the pin goes into the pad, when you turn the wheel the brake pad might be moving and hitting the pin?

You've checked for movement in the wheel both up and down and side to side? The stub axles can and do wear where the bearings side which can cause movement/noise. Wheel bearing could still possibly be noisy without being loose?

Did it happen with the axles disconnected, might be the diff?

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:19 pm
by ZMAD
I've got that noise too from my Toyota 4 pot setup on front. Missing some of the original springy type clip things which means the pad grabs at the rotor, gets lifted (click noise) then gravity lets it drop etc. If pads, noise will cease when brakes applied. Test driving between two buildings where you can hear this well.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:30 pm
by reliablejunkie
It clicks when driving forward but not in reverse, also when i turn left and all the weight goes to the drivers side it stops the clicking noise but driving straight or turning right doesn't stop it. My car is a 1981 280ZX and there are two silver clip bits that i have to hold in the caliper before i slide the brake pads in the sides. It makes sense for those to potentially be making noise due to the warped rotor. There is no movement in the wheel no matter which way i try to wiggle it but i will keep the bearing in mind seeing as clicking stops when the weight from turning left stops the clicking. I have a set of rear rotors on the way so fingers crossed this is what i require to fix the noise.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:13 pm
by ZMAD
The next thing that comes to mind is a CV joint. I remember someone mentioning 280zx has CV joints on rear axle instead of Universal Joints. These will click when worn (more so when turning one way).

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:21 am
by reliablejunkie
Yea i originally thought it was the CV joint so i re built both rear axles but turns out that wasn't the problem. I am going to switch the rear brake rotors around today and go for a spin to see if it makes a difference.

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:15 am
by toycollector10
My 1971 240Z has the same problem. BUT: I have had the following work done recently. New brake pads and brakes refurbished, brake rotor disc refinished, inner and outer wheel bearings replaced, all suspension bushes replaced and all universal joints replaced. But it's still clicking which makes me think it might be the differential bearing for the right wheel. ???

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:02 pm
by reliablejunkie
I am actually still waiting for my disk brakes but in the mean time i did a test. i washed may car one day and i noticed when i drove away that the clicking had stopped for sometime so i i tried tipping a cup of water over the brake rotor and it stopped clicking for a bit so it must be the shape of the disk rotors for me but the differential could be a problem for you.

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:57 pm
by toycollector10
In my previous post I meant to say I had the brake drums resurfaced and new shoes fitted. Yeah, diffy I think, too.