Scraping noise after replacing rear hub assemblies

[oggb]

Wife's car failed inspection for rear wheel bearings. Known problem in these cars (2005 Hyundai XG350) so I went ahead and changed them out myself. Ever since there has been a rhythmic, hollow scraping noise in the rear on both sides. Sounds like a rock stuck in the dust shield but not nearly as loud. Noise is worst at around 35-45 MPH. Above 45 I can't hear it at all. Can't hear it with the rear of the car jacked up spinning the wheels by hand or with the wheels off spinning the rotors by hand.

Things I've tried:
- Adjusted parking brakes (tiny drum brakes on both sides) several times. Never made a difference. Light application of parking brake doesn't change the noise while driving.
- Took a wire wheel to inside of rotors to remove rust/corrosion. No difference.
- Bent dust shield away from rotors. No difference.
- Calipers are fine / not seized.

The only thing I "changed" when I did this job was drill the heads off of the screws that held the rotors to the old hubs, and did NOT replace those screws when I installed the new hubs. I'd be surprised if that's what was causing this.

All I can come up with is that the "face" of the new hub (where the wheel studs go through the rotor) is ever so slightly narrower such that the rotor sits just close enough to the parking brake hardware to rub one of the parking brake shoes or the metal lip on the side of the backing plate.

The problem with my theory is that I can't find any signs of this happening -- there aren't any spots where there's obvious metal to metal contact happening. The noise isn't loud by any means but it wasn't there before.

 

[01rangerxl]

Rhythmic, hollow scraping sounds dead on for parking brake assy rubbing somewhere.

The screws you drilled out were for the assembly line...that's not it.

Even without evidence (yet) of rubbing, that may be what's going on. Doesn't take much noise to catch your attention after a repair...you were listening for it and found it.

If everything works normally, it may be fine to just leave it alone if it doesn't bother you too much.

 

[Rand]

so no brake application changes the noise... regular or parking?

it makes no sense that they wouldn't be scraping while up in the air but maybe you cant spin them enough?

What brand of wheel bearings did you use? Did you possibly damage them during install.

I'd go for defective wheel bearings or scraping brakes(somewhere)

 

[Joe_Power]

Run it down the highway, at about 55 - 55 mph. Slam on the brakes as hard as you can. I mean stand on that pedal, until you come to a complete stop. Fo this about 3 times. See if that fixes it. I've had to do it on my ol pickup. Worked for me.

 

[Joe_Power]

Oh, one more thing. Make sure nobody is behind you. That could get ugly.

 

[oggb]

Been about 30,000 miles since I replaced the hub assemblies and the noise persists. It hasn't changed/gotten louder/gotten quieter.

At this point I feel almost certain it's the rotor rubbing backing plate. It must be rubbing just enough to make noise but not enough to "wear in". Meh, whatever. Doesn't bother me anymore.