Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rubbing sound when moving in any direction

A few days ago, I noticed that whenever the car is moving....independent of which way the wheel is turned or whether moving in forward or reverse, there is a rubbing sound like rubber rubbing on....rubber. It gets slightly worse when turning left, and the frequency of the sound increases as vehicle speed increases, but not the loudness. It is coming from the right-front of the car. I had the wheel off today to check it out, there isn't any play in any suspension components besides a little bit of back and forth movement in the halfshaft which I think is normal. I was not able to duplicate the sound with the wheel jacked up. I'm thinking it is the outer CV boot rubbing on itself....Is it possible to get a replacement boot and clamps and try refilling the joint with grease to fix the problem....has anyone ever heard of this happening in the first place? I am somewhat confused as of what to do, any input would be appreciated

If you suspect the boot, spray some rubber safe lube on it. Maybe some silicone spray, if its safe for rubber.

You may also want to make sure your axels are properly seated into the transaxel housing. There are usually rubber seals there too.

It downpoured today, and after it rained the car drove fine with no noise. I came up with a theory though. My front wheel bearings were replaced at 76,000 under a different owner, so possibly when the halfshaft was reconnected, it didnt go on perfectly straight and allowed grease to leak out of the CV boot. Over time all the grease came out and developed a squeak. The rain gave just enough lube to stop the squeak for a while.

Maybe this is totally off, I have no idea. Or maybe the rain just lubed up the rubber enought so it stopped making noise. LOL that sounds funny doesn't it?