I was taking a road trip to Chicago from Jersey when I got caught in a major thunderstorm this past weekend. Maybe an hour after the storm I noticed a sound coming from the front drivers side by the tire whenever I hit a bump. It sounds like it may have to do with the suspension, but I'm not sure. The sound, which I can only explain as friction, only happened when I hit a bump and seemed to happen 20+ miles into a drive. On my way home today I noticed the sound began to happen when going around a slight bend at higher speeds (70+mph). I know I'm being vague in the description, but does anyone know what the sound could be. I'm not sure if that storm has anything to do with it. I just know it started after it. This was also my first time in the car for a long road trip.

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Hitting the bump might have bent your disc shield. The friction sound might be the shield rubbing against the disk. You can jack up the wheel, remove it and inspect the shield with a tape measure or ruler. Measure the space between the disc and each corner of the shield. Using your hand, gently bend the narrow gap to match the wide gap. Doesn't have to be perfect, it's just a mud and debris deflector.

Might be a wheel bearing starting to go but if you have to drive 70+ to notice, it's probably too slight to feel by jacking up the wheel and rotating it back and forth with both hands. Bad bearings usually run hotter than spec. An infrared thermometer might tell you whether the noisy hub gets hotter than the other three. If it gets hotter, replace the bearing. If it doesn't, keep looking for the source of the noise.

Does applying the brakes interrupt the friction sound? If your brake caliper doesn't fully retract, the pad could be making irregular contact with the disc. Again, it's probably slight if you have to drive 70+ to hear it.

 

This is super vague, but at least you have it isolated to one side. It's hard to say from this description, but I would check all the things on that side of the car. Could be as simple as a splash shield or (more likely) something in your steering has a torn boot and water had gotten into one of the ball joints (either the lower bj or the tie rod end). Both fairly easy to diagnose once you know what to look for, but check out this video as a crash course on front end noises, this guy is pretty helpful:

 

I'm going to jack the car up tomorrow after work and take a look. I only hear it when I hit a bump or in a slight bend in the road at higher speeds. I did notice that if I start to drive cold it won't happen until the car heats up. If that makes sense. I don't hear the noise or notice any drifting or shaking when I brake. Thanks for the help. I'll report back when I take the wheel off and take a look.

 

Well, did you figure anything out? I’m experiencing the same thing.

 

Hi I’m having the same problem in my girls car did you ever figure anything out ?