Wheel noise diagnosis?

[Joel Lenorovitz]

Evening everyone,

I was hoping you might be able to help me pinpoint a new and somewhat scary sound
coming from what seems to be the driver side rear wheel on my '95 90Q.  It's there
intermittently and the severity ranges from mild to highly disturbing.  Here's its
MO:

- the noise is a springy clanging, kinda like a spade shovel hitting a rock
- it varies with speed, but the periodicity seems to be faster than one wheel
revolution - it's more like two times per wheel revolution.
- when it's there, the noise worsens with additional torque from the motor, but it
can still happen even in neutral while coasting and during braking, forward and
reverse
- it comes on sporadically, stays for a while, and then seems to clear up
completely, especially after resting or right before I get it to the lift at the
shop
- it really seems to be coming from the left wheel side, but I'm not 100% sure

Here are my theories so far:
- stone or something from recent snowstorm caught in brake shroud: makes sense for
the clanginess, but I'm not sure how it could be so regular plus I removed wheel and
inspected fairly well
- loose lug nuts: would be plausible, but I've checked and rechecked them
- something in driveshaft: Maybe, but is the shaft spinning ~2x the wheel rate?  Why
would the noise be coming mainly from the left and not the center?
- CV joint on left side: seems like a likely culprit

There's still a lot of mystery here so hopefully it either stays away or I can
reproduce it when I'm near the shop.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joel

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