Any ideas on this noise!

A few weeks back I had a noise come up while I was traveling. Starting out cold, it kind of snapped and popped when I would turn, left or right, had a rhythm to it, sound kind of like a coat hanger banging against the body, much louder than the click of an axle u-joint. Didn't have to go far to where it would warm up and the snap/clik/bang went away and was replaced by a sort of rhythmic metallic chafing that seemed to be related to the wheel rotating, again only when I turn. Sounds like it's coming from the right front. No noises when I'm going straight.



By the time I got it back to Ohio and to the dealer (figure I'd let them destroy the bearing and housing under warranty) the noise was gone. They looked things over lightly, but there wasn't anything obvious.



Last night I go out for supper and take the Ram, which has been sitting for two weeks, and the chafing noise is back, without the clicking when just starting out.



Any ideas? It doesn't sound like any bad wheel bearing I ever heard, but then I'm also thinking that the Cummins rumble might have masked the sound of a bearing going out and what I've got is a bearing further gone than I ever let one go.



All thoughts are welcome.

 

Have you tried jacking up the noisy wheel and rotating it by hand? You can usually detect a bad bearing that way, you may feel or hear a slight grinding or be able to wiggle the wheel and feel bearing looseness. At the same time check the U joint. You can often find some play as you rotate the wheel and try to move the U joint with your hand. If you find any play the joint is bad. Also check for rust coming out of the U joint bearings.

 

I'd have thought the dealer's shop would have looked at that when they had it but, you're right, it's worth looking at myself. There was a lot of snow and slop on the ground when it first came up and I didn't have a jack with me that I'd dare get under, so I didn't do much more than look for something that might be caught up and making the noise.



Now that I'm back home and the noise is back, I'll be jacking it up in the morning. Beyond the bearing, u-joint and some kind of debris, just wondering if there's anything else that is a common sort of problem that I should be looking for. Never really encountered a sound just like this before.