Noise when turning

[SteveR.]

I have noticed a noise from my 2007 RAV4.3 (46k miles) when turning at a relatively tight radius such as on a small roundabout. It sounds rather like something is rubbing or dragging, and seems perhaps to be coming from a front wheel (though the jury is out about which one). I've seen a number of comments about the CV joints making a noise when they wear but I don't know how to check whether that's the source. It sounds to me more like it could be coming from the brake assembly but I can't think why that might make a noise particularly when turning. 

Does this sound familiar to anyone, or are there any suggestions on narrowing it down?
 

[Jezclax]

Had similar on my Auris, metallic scraping / rubbing only when turning sharply.

Turned out to be the splash shield on the off side rubbing on the back of the brake disk. Levered it away with a plastic lever to avoid damage to either.

 Only happened when turning - no idea why. I was beginning to think it was a power steering issue. 

Easy enough to check / eliminate. 

Jez

[SteveR.]

I've now had the opportunity to remove the road wheels and have a proper look and it does indeed look like the splash shields on both sides were the cause. They had a buildup of crud that had reduced clearance from the disk to almost zero when the wheels were straight, so any flexing or other movement during turning could easily have resulted in contact with the discs. Crud now removed and shields levered back slightly to increase the gap, will test it out next time I'm at a small-ish roundabout on an empty road so that no-one will be confused by someone doing 360s!

Thanks for the pointer, much appreciated.

[SteveR.]

Follow up on this...

Cleaning the shields didn't in fact cure the problem, so I ended up asking my local garage to take a look at it for me. Having lifted it up they quickly identified deterioration on the inside surfaces of the front discs. Thumbnail-sized areas had flaked off, and the noise was caused when turning caused the pads to touch against that surface. Apparently it's a common problem.

Just had it fixed by them today. New front discs and pads, about £185 inc. fitting and VAT, which I didn't think was too bad.