CV joint? Brakes rubbing? Steering rack? Bearing?

95 3.8L GL - 25 gallon fuel tank - 166k miles

When its rains it pours. I have some sort of "wa wa wa wa wa" sounds like a bad electric motor spinning down from the front passenger side. I thought it was the tire, but it wasn't and now I have 2 new tires in the front. :) lol - I guess I have a cv joint or bearing problem? steering rack part of the bearing? I hear it prominently when I go from 30 to 40 mph, but its there throughout the entire time I drive it.

I feel like the steering wheel is tilted more to the right than usual too, but curiously the van still will drive straight.

It doesn't get worse when I turn or apply the brakes. If I stomp the brakes and let go of the wheel it stops straight... no pull to one side or the other. I jacked it up and tried to wiggle the wheel and there is no loose play beyond maybe a 2-3 mm at the most. Wouldn't that rule out the wheel bearing?

Could it still be the brakes rubbing even though I'm not pressing the brakes when I hear the noise?

I think the steering rack is the original, but I don't know what would be moving on the rack (unless the wheel bearing is part of it) that would cause this sound. I've even wondered if I'm hearing the synchro assembly, but it really sounds like its coming from the wheel, but maybe I'm misled.

At idle it doesn't make the sound, only when driving, so would that rule out the synchro?

Seems I hear this sound since its gotten cold outside. When it was warm, I never heard it.

I wish my damn Ford CD-ROM would work so I could look all this up on my own, but for whatever reason this is my 2nd Ford CD-ROM and it has stopped working without a scratch on it. Might be my CD-ROM drive though too. One prob after another.

Anyway, any help ya'll can give would be appreciated.

Do you have a lightly traveled road close by that you can drive about 45 mph and swerve to the right, to the left to see if the noise changes while ding so (you will need to cross the center light a little to do this.

In addition to what Tempfixit mentions, remember that this vehicle sat for a while.
Is there rust still on the rotors?
Also.....(I did this) the splash shield that is on the inboard side, bottom of the rotor......make sure that it has not been bumped so that it can touch the rotor.
I was surprised at how much that metal shield can make when it has been bumped in to touch the rotor.
While you are at it.....look at the distance between the wheel speed sensor and the "teeth" of the exciter ring......any small object lodged in there can make a racket also.

Can you tell that I'm pulling for a cheap and easy solution?

I cannot see how a steering rack could cause this problem.......although maybe something with the inner and/or outer tie rod ends, wheel bearing ,or lower ball joint.
But I'm really liking the bent splash shield solution.

Well thanks for the suggestions guys. It turned out it was the passenger front wheel bearing. It didn't shake when jacked up, no play on the wheel. A friend of mine thinks I caught it just when it was going bad... going dry before it got too bad. I rode with a tech to let him hear it and he said it was the bearing immediately. He said it didn't seem like it was bad when he first saw it with the wheel off and it spun ok etc.. but when he swapped it out the noise went away. So, that had to be it. Drives nice again. :)

$330 total parts/labor - :( oh well...... had to be done.

Hi searcherr, did you do anything in particular while driving for the mechanic to pinpoint the problem.

Glad you found the problem.

It is good that you got the problem solved.
Front wheel bearing is not a DIY friendly job.
I had one replaced on my '96.......not noisy at all but the mechanic noticed a bit of play in it.

.....
Front wheel bearing is not a DIY friendly job.......

You are certainly correct there!

But they are getting "friendlier" as the years go by ... Haven't had to do one lately, but the new cartridge bolt-in bearings look much easier than the old press in units. And much, much easier than the yet older press-in "separate cone-cup" bearings .... (I'm showing my age here!)