Eric,
It's sounding more like a half-shaft problem. The only thing changed by removing the tires, is the mass of the tire/rim assembly (~40-to-48 pounds per side) and the rotational torque it places on the entire drivetrain while the wheels are off the ground. With the tires off, you're simply spinning the half-shaft, hubs, and rotors.
Those items that can fail starting with the half-shaft include:
- mid-shaft bearing
- right/left inner CV joint bearings
- right/left outer CV joint bearings
- right/left ABS Tone Rings
- right/left inner or outer wheel bearings
mid-shaft bearing - I don't know how common this is (I recall seeing only one post here in the last several years), but it is a relatively small bearing that stabilizes the inner-end of the right half-shaft. The person posting this was within the last month/month-and-a-half. Do a search and contact them about the symptoms/noises they noted.
right/left inner CV joint bearings - can produce loud clicking-type noises as they begin to fail.
right/left outer CV joint bearings - can produce loud clicking-type noises as they begin to fail.
First, look for CV joint grease that has been spewed outward from a cut, crack, split in the CV joint boot. The right inner CV joint typically flings the grease into the aft right motor mount, onto the right cat, and right backside of the oil pan. The left inner CV joint typically flings grease onto the back of the tranny case. As for the outer CV joints, your most likely to find CV joint grease on the spindle/knuckle.
Both the inner and outer CV joints can be further checked by pulling the wheel hub out and away from the outer CV joint (after removing the tie rod end and prying the lower control arm out of the bottom of the knuckle). Briskly shove the outer CV joint in toward the tranny. If either CV joint is 'dry' from loss of CV joint grease, you will hear a metalic 'clack' as the bare metal meets - versus a subdued thud. If there is excessive bearing-wear, you may be able to feel this by rotating the half-shaft with your hand. Also look for blueing of either end of the half-shaft, indicating excessive heat build-up due to loss of CV joint grease.
right/left ABS Tone Rings - could produce loud clicking-type noises if the ring breaks and starts striking the ABS sensor as rotational velocity increases. There is maybe a 1mm gap between the sensor and tone ring, so very little deflection is required for this to happen.
right/left inner or outer wheel bearings - most likely to produce grinding-type noises, but can produce loud clicking-type noises as they begin to fail. I know you recently changed them, but don't rule them out without checking both.
Some other "left-field" things to check are:
- right/left caliper brackets and slider pins
- right/left warped rotors
- right/left wheel balance
If the caliper bracket slider pins are bent (from rust-seizure of one pin) it can **** the caliper bracket such that it will ride against the rotor (or periodically strike the rotor if the rotor is warped or the tire is out-of-balance and causing wheel vibration).
Have I said that latley... Guess I'll just throw more money at it like I was going to.. this just wasn't the order I had in mind.. lol
). And if you have Advanced in FW, you can return the cores to a local store to save the return shipping cost. Chuck (SHO-n-Go) said he used Napa remans when he had his highly modded SHO.
