Brake/wheel clearance, Alfa 156

[KANEIT]

There is a scratching/scraping noise coming from the front OS wheel when in motion, a light on-off-on-off noise obviously connected to the rotation of the wheel. I've checked the wheel and there is slight play to it if I push and pull at the top of the tyre. It's not a humming noise. I noticed there appears to be very little clearance between the suspension components and the wheel. It cannot be that slight play allows the wheel to scrape the hub/suspension? I've had similar before on another car and it turned out to be the disc dust cover plate, maybe it's the same on this car - a common issue?

Cheers,
Kane

[DamienB]

Shouldn't be any play. When mine was making a similar noise it was the plastic wheel arch panel, the clip had come adrift and it was flexing towards the wheel when turning - easy to spot as there were scrapes on the panel. Alternatively the thin tin guard around the brakes might just need bending back a little.