After a light accident where my front right quarter panel hit another car just above the wheel. I thought I only had light cosmetic damage, however, a few days ago I started to hear a squealing noise. Here is what I noticed:
Sounds like you need to put it on a lift or at least jack stands and start looking for something rubbing or bent (or both)… Without even seeing a picture of the damaged area it makes given advise that much harder…
It could be as simple as the inner fender well is rubbing and when you get up to speed the wind is moving it around a little, but enough to rub…And when you hit the brakes it shifts a little stopping the rubbing noise… Or you could have taken a hit to the wheel also and bent a control arm… Any number of things could be wrong… Just have to start looking until you find the issue… Or take it to a body shop… An alignment shop might even tell you something if the alignment is out bad on that side… If caster is out that means the wheel has shifted forward/backward or camber/toe out means bent strut/tie rod or multiple other things bent… Again, have to get it up and just look at it, if you are not capable then a good shop can look for you…
Thank you. I took it out for a test drive this morning and noticed it is more of a squealing noise vs a rubbing noise. I checked the inner fender well and there is plenty of space.
This would be totally coincidental to the accident but… maybe your brake pads on that side are worn out and the pad replacement indicator is scraping against the rotor telling you your pads need replacing.
This is a WILD guess since you posted absolutely NOthing about your car, truck, SUV, Trike or whatever it is you own.
There are often plastic linings in the wheel wells to help prevent rust forming on the metal body parts. Maybe the lining was knocked loose & rubbing on wheel. This sort of problem might not be obvious just by looking at it when car is parked. This would usually leave some obvious marks on the tire though.