I am noticing a whistling, (whining?) sound when I make right hand turns?

I first noticed it on a highway off ramp.
Doing some driving around a fairly quiet parking lot I could hear it at about 15-20 miles an hour.
So that it is there at 15+ and up to 40 MPH at least. The sound does not seem to change in pitch or volume with speed.

Any suggestions on where to look for this noise?

I recently rotated tires and checked for bearings play and did not notice any movement.
I am concerned it might still be the front right bearings.
Doing some looking in the repair manual and on-line I am not finding anything on servicing (cleaning/repacking) the front bearings.
Pulling the front wheel cover I do not find a dust cap that would provide access to bearings - in as much as that is my previous wheel bearing experience.
Are the wheel bearings serviceable?

 

The front wheel bearings are not serviceable, follow this video, to replace the front hub and bearing, pretty straight forward.

 

I dug more into the manuals to find out why I had a the bearings noted to be serviced.
I found in Vol 1, under Maintenance and Lubrication, 0-37, @ 30k mi "- check and repack the front wheel bearings ..."
To add to the confusion on 0-35 there is a specification for Front Wheel Bearings grease.

Twscarp - I incline to believe you.
- I see one post saying that back to 1993 the bearings are a unit and not serviceable even though the Chiltons calls for them to be serviced every 15K mi.
- One post by someone calling them self Moot that says the bearing can't be serviced AND they repacked the ones on their 98 every 125k mi. (?)
- I see another that says the manual must be a misprint.

Since the only service information I find is that for replacement I suppose I am stuck with there being no way to clean and repack.

 

Hi, if there is not a dust cap, and if your wheel and rotor look like the one in the video, they are non-serviceable. In the older models with a spindle, we would remove the dust cap, cotter pin, and large nut to remove the bearings. The later models it is all sealed. The video is on a 2005, but the same applies to 2003 through at least 2013, probably to the present.

 

Thanks TWscarp.
I'm sold.
Not sure if I should be happy that I can take this off my list
or if I can only look forward to a much more expensive difficult repair
that will take me off the road for days in the future.

 

I am still hearing a whistling, now sometimes a squeak/squeal(?) on some occasions while turning my wheel to the right.
Discussions about wheel bearings never really responded to the sound and focused on wheel bearing maintenance and replacement.

I am now noticing that the sound follows the rotation of the wheel. The sound pulses slower or faster with speed but only when turning right.
Though there was one occasion when I made a right turn from going down a fairly steep hill onto a level roadway, at slow speed, and the sound persisted while the vehicle was going straight until I turned into the left lane at which point it stopped.
I noticed on a 25 MPH turn to the right where the road was not banked there was no whistling as if the lack of downward pressure on the right shock removed pressure from something rubbing(?). So conversely downward pressure is putting something in contact with the wheel(?).

When I did my recent tire rotation and checked the brake pads, the pads were down to 1/8" of being replaced.
To some extent the sound is similar to what I have heard when brake pads, on another vehicle, got down to the warning metal that rubs the rotor.

Are there any suggestions on what I might be looking for?

 

Did you change the wheel bearings? If your brake pads are worn to 1/8" of material, I would replace them too, can't hurt. You might have to get the rotors turned (if there is enough thickness), or I would recommend new rotors also.

 

I've never been a fan of turning discs or drums. It is done with a slight spiral cut, and pads or shoes will wear out sooner. I just got my Express, but I had an Astro, and still have an Equinox, and discs are somewhat cheap.

Arlington. I belong to too many forums, and never had any other members this close to me.

 

Pretty sure these are the ones for your van. I just did my 2013 and what a difference. no more growl/grind sound.

MOOG Differential Bearing - Front 515060 - Read Reviews on MOOG #515060

 

Pretty sure these are the ones for your van. I just did my 2013 and what a difference. no more growl/grind sound.

MOOG Differential Bearing - Front 515060 - Read Reviews on MOOG #515060

canucklehead, RockAuto has that bearing for $105.79, your link says $243.99

https://chevroletforum.com/forum/att...1&d=1501557631

https://chevroletforum.com/forum/att...1&d=1501557631