What Is That Rubbing Steering Wheel Noise?

How Your Suspension System Works

Your car’s suspension system is critically important to your safety on the road, because without it you are going to feel like you are driving a bouncy castle on wheels. While that might sound fun, it’s only fun if you can stomach the fact that your car is on it’s way to a date with the mechanic, while flirting with a big repair bill.

Your suspension is made up of springs and shock absorbers that keep your car from bouncing after it hits a road bump. Most modern vehicles use a variation of an independent suspension system, which means that all wheels or at least the front pair are attached to the car’s body independently.

Consequently, the movement of one wheel doesn’t influence the movements of the other so that they handle different forces better. In other words, it allows you to handle roads that are uneven without compromising the suspension (looking at you, Rhode Island).

Luxury vehicles typically make use of air suspension systems instead of steel coil springs. These use pressurized air in inflated bellows that generally speaking give your car a “cushier” ride.

Almost like you’re riding on air. We’ll take puns for 600 please, Mr. Trebeck.

Now, even if your car has the latest and greatest suspension system, some components will also wear out over time which can cause your steering wheel to make the rubbing noise you are worried about.

Now that you have a bit of background on the two primary systems that can cause the rubbing noise, let’s take a look under the hood and work through the common causes.

The Different Types Of Sounds

You might not be a mechanic, but you can sure as hell listen like one. To get us closer to the cause of your rubbing sound, you are going to need to use your ears.

Understanding what type of sound your steering wheel will help us narrow it down to a list of components. Pay close attention to the type of sound your car is making.

The Speed You Hear The Sound At Is Also Important

Are you driving 15mph below the speed limit, or are you driving so fast that you could make Lightning McQueen blush?

Either way, you are also going to want to consider the speed you are driving when you hear the noise. As they say, different strokes for different folks.

This applies to your car too, to the point where we can rewrite that statement to say “different speeds for different problems”.

1: Bad Power Steering Rack

Component Group: Steering

Noise It Makes: Grinding, typically at low speeds

Cost To Repair: $100-$1,200+

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

As we mentioned before, your steering rack is generally pretty hardy, but sometimes a part of it (or even the entire rack itself) can go bad. Generally, when someone complains their car is making a grinding noise when turning, this is the cause. The severity of the grinding should give you an indication of how bad the issue is.

A light grinding may indicate that your power steering fluid is contaminated, while a heavy grinding may indicate that your rack and pinion gear has slipped out entirely.

If you catch the issue early enough, you won’t have to replace the entire power steering rack. Sometimes it can be as simple as replacing the steering wheel bearing, which generally costs only a few hundred with parts and labor. However, if you ignore the issue you could be facing down a potentially pricy repair.

2: Worn Out Struts/Shocks

Component Group: Suspension

Noise It Makes: Knocking/clunking sound, combined with a very bouncy ride. Can be worse when turning over bumps.

Cost To Repair (shocks): $250-$600+

Cost To Repair (struts): $450-$900+

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

Your suspension is built to last for a long time, as under normal driving conditions, you can expect to get 100,000 miles or more out of them.

One of the first signs that your struts/shocks are going bad is a noise coming from your steering wheel. Typically this is described as a clunking or knocking sound that gets louder as the problem gets worse.

3: Bad Ball Joints

Component Group: Suspension

Noise It Makes: Squeaking / steering wheel rumbling

Cost To Repair: $400-$700

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

Ball joints enable the control arms and steering knuckles to keep a vehicle moving, but in order to perform their function ball joints have to be lubricated. When they dry out (which is common), they stop moving freely in the steering knuckle which can cause a squeaking sound.

As the problem gets worse, your bad ball joints can lead to your steering wheel vibrating/rumbling when turning as the ball joint makes contact with the steering knuckle.

This problem is potentially serious, and we reccomend you take your car to the mechanic to get it fixed.

4: Bad Jounce Bushings

Component Group: Suspension

Noise It Makes: Creaking sound, similar to an old hinge on a door

Cost To Repair: $100-$300

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

Your front struts have a jounce bushing to act as a cushion from road bumps and vibration. These joints also help make your driving experience more pleasant by reducing said vibration and the noise from the movement of your joints.

These joints will sometimes need lubrication. When turning the steering wheel you may notice a creaking sound which can be an indicator it’s time to get your jounce bushings looked at, and possibly lubricated.

5: Bad Control Arms

Component Group: Suspension

Noise It Makes: Vibration in steering wheel during the early stages which progresses to clunking as it gets worse.

Cost To Repair: $100-$300

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

One of the first signs you have bad control arms is your steering wheel vibrating. When the bushings or ball joints in the control arm wear out, it can cause your wheel to move back and forth which causes vibrations you can feel in the steering wheel.

Generally these virations will increase during acceleration and then smooth out as you hit your top driving speed.

Over time this can progress to a clunking noise as the bushings or joints loosen further, which can cause them to knock when turning or driving over rough terrain. This noise will get worse as wear increases until it eventually breaks.

Your control arms are critically important to your suspension as they link your car’s wheels to the chassis. Without them, your wheels will quite literally fall off.

6: Worn Steering Shaft Joint

Component Group: Steering

Noise It Makes: Popping or clunking noise when turning

Cost To Repair: $200-$450

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

The steering u-joint is an important part of your steering system that transfers the steering force from the steering wheel to the steering rack.

The daily wear and tear on this joint over time can cause it to develop issues with moving properly. Although you likely won’t notice it at first, over time as the steering u-joint wears you will notice some stiffness in the steering wheel which can translate into rubbing noises as the problem gets worse.

You may also notice the steering wandering as the problem gets worse.

7: Bad Tie Rods

Component Group: Steering

Noise It Makes: Vibration and shaking in the steering wheel, clunking and rattling when turning at low speeds

Cost To Repair: $100-$200+

Covered By Our Vehicle Service Plans: Yes

When your tie rods go bad, the symptom you’re most likely to experience first is a vibration or shaking sensation in your steering wheel.

You may also hear associated clunking and rattling noises, especially when turning the vehicle at low speeds. These sounds are caused by tie rods that are starting to wear out.

As they wear, they can start to come loose and rattle around at the joints and linkages. If the rubber boot that protects the tie rod’s lubricated joint gets torn, sand and dirt will begin to make their way into the joint, displacing the lubricant and leading to a grinding sensation when you steer. These symptoms are a sure sign that it’s time to have your tie rods inspected and probably replaced.