Pontiac Repair: Clunking sound in Vibe while moving, shaft extension, wheel bearing

Question
HI, The car is a 2005 Vibe. It started a few weeks ago having a mild random thumping sound in the front. After about a week the noise is much worse. While moving on a smooth road, the noise is present and nothing seems to affect it. Steering left or right, braking, putting the car in neutral... nothing absolutely nothing seems to change it. The sound is almost now a rotational rate of the tires. The car was raised up on jacks and the speed increased to where a noise was heard from the right front tire..but the same exact sound...more of a rattle. The mechanic checked the sway bar,ball joints,struts,brakes, no play noticed in the wheel . There have been 6 mechanics look at it... no one knows what is causing the noise. Should I just wait till it breaks? Worried about my young child in the car!

Thanks,

Jack

Answer
Hi Jack:

well with out hearing it it's kind of hard to say for sure. what it is actaully it's impossible. But I can give it a guess.  Did you try rotating the tires on it? It may have a tire that is bad and untill the weight of the car is it will not show up fully. If you rotate the tires and the noise moves to the rear it's a tire. You could have a wheel bearing going bad it may not be "loose" when checked but still be bad. those are my 2 guesses. Good luck :)


One last though. that car has an axle shaft extension on the right side of the car. there is a short axle that goes from the transmission to the side of the engine block. there is a support bearing there and the right side axle shaft that goes out to the suspension. that support bearing could be bad as well. I have never chnaged one before but that could be your issue as well???? again just a guess.