So after a road trip of about 500 km I noticed a metal on metal sound coming from my front left tire. It gets louder when I turn to the right and goes away when I turn to the left. The noise gets drowned out above 10 km/h.

I took the wheel off and confirmed that the dust shield was not rubbing, brake wasn't seizing, and the rotor was not making that noise.

Taking off the rotor and brake, i spun the hub assembly with the wheel and heard a soft clicking which increased in speed with faster rotation.

The CV joint boot looks intact with no cracks or tears. Could this be the wheel bearing? It was just replaced last year. Any way to tell if it's the CV joint? I don't hear clicking while turning or any vibration while steering.

 

If anyone searches and sees this the end result was:

The dust shield. Even though I pulled it back and there was clearance the mechanic said it was still too close.

No more noise. The slight clicking of the axle is normal.