Clicking noise... Help!!!

[LongNLowGMC]

So a new little annoyance has popped up on the GMC and I'm no mechanic by any means so I'm hoping maybe you guys here could give me some direction. The noise itself is a clicking/tapping that slows down as the truck slows down, kind of like putting a baseball card on the fork of your bicycle into the spokes. Once it's at a stop it's quiet, only does it when it's moving. It seems to be coming from the front passenger side, it only does it when I am slowing down and starts around 30 mph until I stop, don't hear a thing once I'm at speed. It can be quiet, it can be loud sometimes, sometimes it goes away completely. And I've noticed twice now if its doing it and I drive over something bumpy, like railroad tracks, the noise will stop. It doesn't matter if I am braking or not, even the truck is just rolling slowing down without the brakes it will do it. I took it to a guy in town and he gave it a quick look over on their rack (they were closing) and said the only thing he saw wrong were the bolts on my fender wells were all loose and missing a few, I've replaced and tightened them all down and its still doing it (I really didn't think thats what was causing it so I wasn't surprised).

Well that's about the best I can describe it, so what do you think? Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated, thanks guys!

[geezer#99]

Sounds like wheel bearing!
Jack up that wheel slightly off the ground, grab the tire top and bottom and check for movement. Shouldn't be any. Rotate and wiggle it too and listen for noises.
You might get lucky and it's only the cotter key inside the grease cap rubbing.

[Rufton]

Do you have hub caps?

[geezer#99]

I know what you're thinkin' Rufton!
It might just be that easy!

[LongNLowGMC]

Nope, no hub caps, solid wheels. I'll jack it up and try turning the wheel geezer, thanks!

[Special-Ed]

maybe rocks in the tire tread

[geezer#99]

Originally Posted by LongNLowGMC

Nope, no hub caps, solid wheels. I'll jack it up and try turning the wheel geezer, thanks!

Keep us posted.
Check the drivers side too!

[Rufton]

Originally Posted by LongNLowGMC

Nope, no hub caps, solid wheels. I'll jack it up and try turning the wheel geezer, thanks!

Grease cap cover?

[BADPURPLE70CHEVY]

Also does it do it when you turn and put more pressure on that side?

[Ryan5O]

Does is it stop clicking when you press the brakes?
...sorry didn't read the whole post. Looks like the clicking does stop.

[stsalvage]

It could be a number of things Like A bearing coming apart,if you have aftermarket rims there touching the spindle a drive shaft that is very dry a front end that is Dry.Make use you lube your front ends.could be your brakes

[hayhauler71]

Loose brake pad in the brake caliper rocking back and forth

[Daner]

Something else that nobody else has mentioned is a loose upper shock bolt/mount. It seems like they wear out on the passenger side then make rattling noises. It's very easy to hear if you drive on pavement.

Good luck finding the gremlin.

[Scottcoda]

I also had a disappearing tapping noise.. after some investigation it turned out to be my fan shroud.. it would just hit the fan so slighty when it was in the mood... I was not too interested in doing a big repair for a stupid piece of plastic so i wedge a small piece of cardboard in the shroud till it stopped then closed the hood... has not returned since
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[heyjoe]

Front u-joint

[Sklptrljay]

I had an issue like that on my old 69' Camaro that I thought I would never find. It ended up being a tailpipe hanger that would intermittently rub on the driveshaft. Now, of course everything is ran tighter on a unibody frame, but it might be worth a look to see if anything is close to your driveshaft.

[Agent915]

X2! I'm with heyjoe on this. I had the same issue and symptoms on a '96. Finally, after checking and listening to everything I could think of I decided to eliminate as much noise as I could. I got in the truck and let it roll slowly down the driveway, engine off and out of gear. There was the "clicking." Replaced front and rear U's, no more "clicking." Hope this helps.

Danny

[LongNLowGMC]

Alright, update for you all, and thanks again for all the suggestions, much appreciated! So after jacking it up and screwing around with the wheel I wasn't able to find anything making noise, no odd movement. I found a better mechanic in town here and took her in today. Turned out to be be the center drive line bearing and the retainer around it were going out, the retainer thing was about half there. Got everything replaced and I'm noise free! Thanks again everyone, gotta love this site!

[heyjoe]

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear you got it figured out.

[Ol Blue K20]

Glad you got it, amazing how noise travels isn't it
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[Square_78]

My trim rings rattle on my wheels sound like gravel in a washing machine. Drives me nuts. I'm about ready to silicone them into the rims! Haha Glad you found your issue.
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