Greetings,

I have a '99 Audi A4 and recently it has been making what is similar to a grinding noise caused from some sort of rubbing, coming from the area of the control arm or steering rack. I would like to say that it it mostly comes from when I am turning the steering wheel, and also makes the noise when the car is moving or driving over the slightest uneven road. Every time it makes this noise, it feels rough through the steering wheel and it is not your typical grinding either. It is a kind of grinding that sounds like it is caused from hard plastic or hard rubber between two pieces of metal. This is probably not what is exactly happening, but if one could imagine this sort of noise, this is what im hearing.
At first I thought it may be a completely blown strut, but I am pretty sure that it is somewhere in the control arm or steering rack. Anyways, it is making me nervous and before I take it for a diagnosis, I would greatly appreciate any insight into what may be causing this.

Thank you all,
Sharif

 

take the wheel off and see if you can see anything. if so take a pic and show us

 

Do you have oversized tires, or have you lowered the suspension. Either of these could cause crowding of the tire and cause it to rub against the wheel well.

Nore worrisome grinding would be a wheel bearing that is going on that side.

 

sounds like wheel bearing to me.

 

is it more prominent when turning?? does it happen in a strait line at any speed (CV joint if turning, bearing if on long run straight line) check to see if the C/V boot is split

 

Sounds like a worn control arm.

Its pretty common, how many miles on the car?

That hard part is figuring out which one is causing the issue. If you can afford it, buy the kit from ECS and replace all the control arms, and they will be good for another 90-100k or so.

 

When my right lower and upper control arms were going I had a similar sound. Might want to check there when you take your wheel off.

 

feedback please

 

Wheel bearing noise gets worse on turns, if you turn the car away from the side that is making noise the noise will get worse as you put more load on that bearing, and gets better when you turn toward the side that is making noise.

CV joints usually make metalic clicking noises when you turn.

Control arms don't make grinding noises. They either make squeeks from the bushing, or metalic clunks when you go over bumps.

 

Hi and thank you for all the feedback

I really dont think that it is the wheel bearing as Ive had that issue with another car and it would make the noise continually with the movement of the wheel. This noise does not make a sound such as a rotation grinding. I will try to pull the wheel off this weekend and check to see if it is the control arm. The car at this point has close to around 85k miles on it. What do OEM control arms usually cost? I really appreciate your input on all of this.

Thank you all,
Sharif