socal73

Going along today my 09 Wrangler 2dr (automatic) started making what sounded like a grinding noise that appeared to only be heard when braking. 5 mins later it started making a grinding sound as I was slowing/coasting (without braking).
Then I heard a little bit of thrashing around at 30 mph or so...sounded like it was coming from the mid/passenger side but have no idea what it could be. I spent 20 mins under the Jeep tonight and cant find a single thing. Pulled all 4 wheels to see if something looked off on the brakes/rotors/etc and everything looks good. Front to back underneath, everything looks good. Just turned over 100K miles, wondering if it could be the transmission or something grinding? Dont really know anything about the transmissions but I have an 8hr drive for Christmas this weekend and I'm starting to worry. Havent ever heard the noise before (and I typically drive with radio off and windows down. Seems to be a new issue. Any ideas? I know it's a shot in the dark but figure someone might have an educated guess.....

Thanks in advance.

Smudgeontheglass

Kinda sounds like you got a rock in your brakes. If not it could be your wheel bearing has given up the ghost.

jsukey

With the Jeep jacked up, check for up and down play on the front tires to see if you have a bad wheel hub bearing. If you had a bearing going bad on the rear, 9 times out of 10 you would have gear oil coating the inside your wheels. Your ebrake would also be useless as the shoes would be soaking it up. It very well could have been a rock that got kicked up and got caught between your front brake rotors and the heat shield. I've had it happen on more than one occasion while wheeling around pea gravel. Maybe make sure your front brake heat shields are bent far enough away from the rotors so tiny rocks won't get hung up there.