metallic "hum" or "whine"

[adey]

I get a high pitched metallic "whine" occasionally when I'm going at slow speeds (up to about 45mph) from my front driver's side wheel well... also coming from this wheel well is a 'grinding' or 'scraping' noise under moderate braking.

At first, I thought this might be my brakes, but now, i'm led to believe that it's more likely to be my wheel bearings.
Is there any way I can check, and if possible fix, this at home using basic hand tools?

Or is it probably just my brakes? I don't seem to feel anything out of the ordinary when I brake hard, although the sound is somewhat worrying.

[mbmbmb23]

Hmmm...how slow can you go and still have it do this?  What I would do if it were me is to put the front of the car on jack stands....and take the wheel off.....then spin the rotor/hub with your hand and have someone hit the brakes (hit the brakes at varying firmness levels) while you are spinning it.  OR....if you have a mechanic friend...have him take a spin in your car with you riding shotgun...and let him tell you what he thinks.


-m

[adey]

it'll start doing this at around 10mph (possibly slower, but I think it starts around here) and goes away by the time I hit 35 or 40.  

I'll try your trick tonight or tomorrow night when I'm installing my new brake components.
Thanks for the suggestion!