My wheel was smoking?!?!? Wheel bearing?

[BlueOvalStangGT]

I just drove from home to work which is 3 hours away. Upon getting close to work I noticed my car would kind of slow down faster then normal when I was coasting to a stop at lights and such. Then, when I pulled into work and parked, my pass. front side wheel was smoking. I havent had a chance to take a look at it (im still at work) but what could this be? Brake pad sticking to the rotor or something? Wheel bearing? Any ideas?

 

[drakesdad]

maybe....could be emergency cable sticking............have to get underneath and take a look...good luck

 

[trav_19]

well if it was wheel bearing you should have heard noises from it before it got that bad....maybe your caliper is shot? hard to tell im going with will on this one tear it apart.

 

[HISSIN50]

I think you're on the right track. It can be any number of things - a dragging brake (sticky piston or bad slide pins), a wheel bearing (I think you'd hear noise or feel rumbling though), a ball joint going (being off-camber can cause a crapload of heat), etc.

You'll just have to jack it up and diagnose the suspension (you might need to heat things up first - be real careful). I was helpin a buddy with a similar issue on his Amigo and didnt realize how bad it was - I sizzled a piece of my thumb to the rotor. Wear some good gloves and use an IR thermometer to compare both sides if you can.

Good luck.