So I got my 2004 Grand Am about 2 months ago and noticed after about a week that the front right tire was low. I put air in it, came back to check it in the morning and it was down again. I had it looked at and was told that the tire was pulling away from the rim because of the rim eroding (not sure if this makes sense to anyone). He put some bead sealant on it and got rid of the erosion on the rim. Everything was fine. But then about 2 weeks later I started to notice a slight crunch when I went over bumps. Over the past month and a half the sound has gotten progressively worse. It sounds extra bad when I am making a right turn. My brother put it on a lift, took the tire off, pushing some things around and couldn’t figure out the source of the sound. Everyone who drives in the car with me can hear it. Other than that annoying sound the car is beautiful but the sound makes it seem like a junky car and it’s not. Plus it’s driving me crazy! It doesn’t crunch when I break or at high speeds (maybe because I can’t hear it). I’d hate to bring it to another mechanic and pay $100+ dollars for him to tell me he can’t figure out the sound either. The car had it’s suspension checked etc. Any ideas??
Typical strut mount or strut noise. Can’t rule out a bad ball joint but not as likely.
Just to rule out the erosion of the wheel as the problem - id put on the spare and drive in similar situations that produce the crunch. If its still present then you can at least rule that out.
My 2 cents and Fender beat me to my suggestions… I agree with them both.
If you have no spare, try swapping the front and rear wheels and see if the noise moves with the wheel.
Can you post a close up photo of the wheel?
Thanks for your suggestions everyone. It’s snowing here in CT but when it clears I will post a photo of the tire. Might not be for a few days but keep your eye out! Just throwing it out there-it’s definitely not a squeak sound. I’ll try switching the tires and see if that makes a difference!
Also could be cv joint. A 10 year old car could be any suspension part. Swapping tires would be a good start, but having it on a lift would make finding it easier.