I second this, the brake shields behind the discs don't take much to get bent out of shape and they are hell to straighten out.

Personally I would be concerned about driving around if they are truly that far gone, especially with family in the car, but I don't want to be the one to call wolf just because of some guy in a parking lot.

If they are so shot that they are making a grinding nose then they are far gone. Best way to find out is to pull them out and inspect them, either by yourself or at a shop. Second best would be at least to take of the wheel and turn the hub to see how it feels and how much front to back play it had.

On my 93 I went through a lot of wheel bearings before I figured out that the seals were shot and that the truck didn't like so much water. Before they would get real bad they would get a lot of play where I could pull the hub front and back. Scary! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Other culprits? Lost brake pad... stuck brake slider... possibly shot spindle bearing (that CV turns all the time unless you have manual hubs). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />