Ok. Let me see if I can describe it better.
When I leave my house to go to work around lunchtime, I drive about 4 or 5 miles on a back road. It's paved but uneven and bumpy. The only thing I can compare the grinding sound to would be like a really loud bumble bee. When you're sitting/standing outside and a bee comes up beside you, it's clear and obvious. The grinding sound is clear and obvious when I'm driving toward the highway from my house. I drive between 35 and 45 miles per hour on the back road I live on and it has a number of twists and turns. When I'm on a right turn/bend, the sound fades but is still noticeable. When I'm on a left turn/bend, the sound is the same as when I'm driving straight.
Once I get on the highway which is about 15 minutes from my house, the sound slowly begins to fade the longer I drive. The sound is still able to be heard the entire time I'm driving but fades more into what I would call normal background noise while driving. Still noticeable but not very loud. I drive 90 minutes one way to my job and I spend about and hour or so on the highway on my way to work. When I hit 60 miles per hour on a straight stretch of highway, the sound is still present but the front end feels like it's shaking some or possibly vibrating more than usual. At times, it almost sounds like it's beginning to make a knocking sound at the higher speeds, but I can't hear it clear enough to know for sure. Wish I could be more specific with that but that's all I can really say.
On my way home from work, everything is about the same. Only thing is when I go through a serious and different turns and then hit a straight stretch of highway, the sound can get almost as loud as when I'm driving on the back roads. I usually hit the different bends and turns in the road when I'm about 30 minutes from getting back home. Just as I mentioned before, it's clear and very noticeable on back roads or rough/uneven paved roads. Any time I hit a smooth stretch of pavement, it's barely makes any noise.
The sound is clear and easily heard around 35 to 45 miles per hour especially on back roads. It begins to fade some around 50 miles per hour and up to 60 miles per hour, but still present.
If that helps any, great. If not, don't bother responding.
With all due respect, not all mechanics know exactly what they're doing all the time. If I'm not asked the right questions about what's happening while I'm driving or the mechanic isn't looking at the right things or even might not have the experience with specific cars, then not much can be done.
I recently took my jetta to a volkswagon dealership who has charged me thousands to get all the environmental parts replaced. I've paid to have all those parts replaced and easily spent 3 times what the car will ever be worth getting those issues fixed. The most recent visit was because of this noise that I posted about. They told me I needed a new left front axle and my calipers were leaking and need replaced. Quoted me $1,300 to do it. I called a local mechanic and asked him to do the repairs. Ended up only paying $600 which included an inspection and new brake pads/rotors. Also, he said my calipers were perfectly fine and didn't need replaced. Forgive me if I don't trust what everyone says when a dealership mechanic who only works on volkswagons tells me one thing and a local mechanic says another and was right.
I'm glad that you've asked me all these questions as most mechanics I've worked with don't. That being said, I don't need to be judged or criticized for not giving the right information about the issues with my car when I'm not a mechanic. Even when I have done my own research, given more detailed information, asked more questions, and spent more money than I could afford at times, I still have ended up not having the issues resolved.
