Help for a sick Mountaineer

[todds87ss]

Charlie,
Friend has an 05 Mercury Mountaineer that howls from the right front at speed above 55. Changed out wheel bearing, to no avail (sounds exactly the same). Tires are fairly new, with no abnormal wear. I noticed, while crawling under, that the rubber on the ball joints holding upper and lower spindle in place are rotted, but cannot identify wear yet in the joints. Any ideas where the howling could be coming from?
Thanks,
Todd

[GRRRR8]

Does it change while cruising at 55 if you turn steering wheel slightly? I will tell you I have done over 20 rear diffs for howling at freeway speeds.

[todds87ss]

yes, if you turn to the left (IIRC), but not right. I'll have him change the fluid to see if it changes. Odd that it would sound so much like a front end noise? Thanks.

[GRRRR8]

Are you sure you dont have a bad bearing on the oposite side? Usually a diff noise wont change at speed while turning is why I ask.

[todds87ss]

no, he only changed out the one side. I'll see if he wants to swap out the other side. Still, I'd swear that it's coming (the noise) from the pass. side. I just could not think of any other noise that could come from that location besides bearing, as it's a 2WD.

[GRRRR8]

That chasis (Explorer/Mountaineer) are bad about hub bearings. They have them in the rear also.

[todds87ss]

Thanks for the info. I'm about to hit a round of golf with the gent. I'll discuss your conclusions there. Cheers!