My wife has an 03 vue AWD, and it was been making a rubbing/grinding noise from the rear for a while now... at 1st i thought it was that the tires were bad...but u cant hear the sound from outside if you open the door, only the inside. the noise seems to get louder and higher pitched the faster we go... and also seems to be louder when we turn left and not when we turn right.... if i put the car in nutral or turn the engine off it doesnt make a diference... please if anyone has had this problem or knows what is causing this, let me know so i can replace somthing... its driving me nuts... i cant pinpoint where its coming from.


thank you


trav

my first thought would be brakes or axle, could also be something to do with the rear diffEdited by: TheEngineer

Personal opinion only, but it sounds like a wheel bearing is going bad. The sound seems to transmit through the body of the car better than just standing along the street and having the vehicle roll by. Experience speaking here had it happen to me. $340.00 to have the dealer repair it

wheel bearings dont really make that metal grinding type noise though. They sorta have their own distinct noise, almost like a humming.

i guess it could be the wheel bearing ..but every wheel bearing ive had go out has made more of a screaching high pitched sound.... this is a low rumbling... like if you drove a jeep with super knobby tires... only its loud!..or like the tire was rubbing against the wheel well... but i cant find a problem with the tires... also dont thing its brakes... doesnt get worse or better with braking... i dont know the 1st thing about the awd system on this thing, so i dont know where to start with trying to trace it there

wait so you would say that its not a metal on metal type grind but more of a very loud humming...almost like when you drive over those rumble strips on the highway. If thats the case then i agree with archer, its your wheel bearing

YES!!!! that is exactly what it sounds like... and i found out today that it is not as loud when i have more pressure in the tires... i will try the wheel bearings... thats not that hard to replace... or that expensive... thank you for your help.

ok so after a little research it looks like you cant just replace the bearings... you have to replace the entire hub (stupid GM).... anywho... is there anything special about replacing the hub... does it need a special press or anything... or can i just un bolt it, beat it with a hammer and "Vuala"??? in other words is this somthing i can do in my driveway... or do i need to enlist the help of a saturn mechanic?

No special tools - its actually not very hard at all and the rears are even easier. For the rears - Remove the bolts, disconnect the ABS wire if you''ve got ABS and "Voila".