Noise underneath car

Ok fellas, need some help troubleshooting. I've got a ticking noise from under the car when it's in motion. The sound reminds me of a card in the bicycle spokes. I'm not very knowledgeable but some reading up leads me to believe its maybe bearings or ujoints? The only thing I did so far was put the car up on jackstands, put it in drive and listen to it in the garage and nothing. Thank goodness there was no beer involved, who knows how that mighta ended. Soon as I put it down and drove, it was back again. What do I start checking and how, ya'll?

Jason

Check your tires and make sure you don't have a nail,rock, or something like that stuck in the tread.

You'll want to inspect bearings and U-joints. When they get worn out they typically won't squeak until you put weight on them. That might have been why you didn't hear any noises while you had your car jacked up.
You can also check and see if you have any parts hanging down, random junk stuck to things, etc.

X 2 on that sounds like a big screw or nail in the tire

Ok, I'll start with the tires, moving the driveshaft checking for play checks the ujoints, is that correct? As far as bearings, sorry for sounding so novice, how to check them?

maybe a bearing in the rear end.Jack it up and turn the wheels.

Could be an exhaust leak, believe it or not. Could be a plastic bag wrapped around the drive shaft. Could be an opossum caught in the fan belt, well, could be. JB

jrb75 wrote:Ok, I'll start with the tires, moving the driveshaft checking for play checks the ujoints, is that correct? As far as bearings, sorry for sounding so novice, how to check them?

THIS IS HOW YOU CHECK FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS
•1
Jack the wheel in question up and then place the vehicle safely onto a jack stand.

•2
Spin the wheel as fast as you can by hand in order to listen or feel--through the sidewall of the tire--for resistance or excessive noise, such as slight grinding.

•3
Place your hands at 12:00 and 6:00 on the wheel and wiggle it in a rocking motion. Serviceable bearings generally allow slight movement--about 1/8 of an inch--in free play. Anything more than that will require retightening the bearing, servicing the bearing or replacing the bearing.

•4
Remove the hubcap and pry the dust cap off the center of the hub using a hammer and a small pry tool or straightedge screwdriver. Inspect the interior of the cap for dryness or lack of grease.

•5
Remove the cotter pin using a pair of needle-nose pliers. Remove the castle cap underneath the cotter pin. Remove the spindle nut using a pair of channel locks. Remove the bearing washer. Smack the top of the tire inward with one hand while placing your other by the spindle to catch the outer bearing. Wipe any excess grease from the bearing to inspect it for lubrication, visual dryness or heat damage to the bearings or cage. If the the bearing displays any issues, the hub and rotor assembly will need to be removed to extract the inner bearing. This will require removing and replacing the grease seal and the bearing racers. Bearings and racers should always be replaced in pairs. Repack the bearings with a quality bearing grease employing a wheel bearing packer.

•6
Replace the bearing washer to the wheel assembly--once inspected or after the bearings are replaced--then tighten the spindle nut as far as you can go by hand with a set of channel locks. Spin the tire several times in the natural forward rotation to seat the bearing. Back the nut off 1/8 of an inch and then replace the castle cap and cotter pin. Pack the inside of the dust cap with bearing grease.

Sounds like a typical U-joint, most likely the rear. No load no noise.

Drop the shaft and give both a wiggle. Cheap an easy to replace.


Bill

Ya mean that you didn't find the neighbor's cat wrapped around the drive shaft yet?
Better look again............

I had what might be a similar noise while driving a couple years ago. Ended up being the emergency brake cable hitting the exhaust. Looked like I had enough clearance while jacked up, but when driving I guess there was just enough vibration to be completely annoying!

Holy Cow G3NUT, talk about a write up. Even if it turns out to be something else thats some good info and I'm keeping that for reference. Thanks for the reply guys and to he honest, I got it in the garage and had not gotten to check it yet. Ya know now it is, that bone chilling winter weather in Oklahoma... I've got some great responses and I appreciate it. i'll get on it asap.

JB, I'm sure it's not an opossum cause my vicious killer attack lab would get em when he isn't sloppin up my beer... pilla, I've got some carb issues to get worked out and until then that cat gets to live, soon we will change his name to squishy.

Ok, checked all 4 tires, nothing protruding from them. Front bearings had little play, no movement in the ujoints and I dropped it out to check. I didn't find anything hanging up that would make the noise. Rolled the rear tires and din't hear any abnormal noises. So far, the only thing I found unusual was the e-brake cable is running across the front end of the driveshaft and it's layed up against it.

That'll do it. JB

I had a cracked wheel some years back that would make a similar noise when going slow.
It was a stock type steel wheel. Took a while to find that one too........