Grinding/Growling in front end

[Brandon75]

I have a 2007 Aveo, manual transmission. I changed the front brakes at the beginning of May and I have slowly been noticing a grinding noise in the front end. I checked to see if I might have thrown a pad off and that is not the case. This is a list of things that I notice while driving:

• a slight "thudding" noise when I am creeping in 1st gear.
• when I accelerate the noise temporarily goes away until my speed levels off.
• when I turn my wheel to the left it becomes louder and when I turn it to the right it goes completely away.
• when I apply my brake I can feel the "thudding" that coincides with the grinding.
• the steering wheel shimmies when I go past 45 mph.
• If I go over a bump or uneven pavement, the noise fades in and out.

I've had some one tell me that it might be wheel bearings, bad shaft or even a faulty motor mount.
Any suggestions?

[Daox]

Sounds like your right side wheel bearing. Although, that doesn't account for any thudding.

[Brandon75]

I can't really say if it's thudding. It's hard to place vehicle noises into words lol

[petrified.rabbit]

my wheel bearing and a cv joint went bad, one of the two had a "thudding" noise. I replaced them at the same time and the thud went away.

[avguy]

Whenever something new happens on one of mine, my first usual suspect is any prior work I've done that's remotely related to whatever new is going on. Did you try jacking up both sides and turning the wheels by hand, cutting the wheel in both directions, trying to see if anything sounds or looks out of wack? If it were mine (and my work), I'd take the brakes apart, check each part, and redo the whole job again.
But that's just me, and yes, it could definitely just be a coincidence that the brake job was recently done, and actually turn out to be one of the things that have been mentioned in the prior posts.