[Spock]

I have a 2005 Taurus with a 3.0 Vulcan with almost 100,000 miles and very little body rust. I’m going to keep going to at least 150,000 miles, Lord willing. My 2005 Taurus finally rusted and I scrapped it at 150,000 miles. This one is in much better shape than the last one.
I recently drove the 2005 in an underground parking lot with the windows down and heard a pulsing noise. I am about to replace the struts with KYB Quick struts which I already have. I can’t tell is the noise is a wheel bearing or CV joint. Any tips on trying to decipher the noise? I guess I’m also willing to to do struts, CV axles and wheel bearings all at once. Has anyone done that on a proactive basis? Thanks for your ideas. Spock.

 

[ice445]

Usually CV's only make noise before they're about to fail from lack of grease. Do the boots look intact? Generally the common noise they make is "clicking" especially when the wheel is cranked to the opposite side.

Wheel bearing noises are usually easiest to hear on the highway, it sounds like a helicopter is following you. Lift the wheel up and see if you can move it in any direction, if you have substantial back and forth play towards the engine/you then you either have ball joint or wheel bearing issues.

 

[Automender12345]

CV joints will change the noise as you take you foot off the gas and the worn surfaces either load or unload. My bad bearing sounded like an exhaust leak at highway speeds

 

[Bob Barnett]

Raise the front end, put the transmission in Neutral. Grasp each wheel and and spin it as fast as you can, place one hand on the spring. If you have a bad wheel bearing, vibration will transmit to the spring. Ice445 is correct, a bad wheel bearing sounds like the roar of a jet taking off overhead.

 

[soundu]

when the wheel bearing went on my 97, it starting making a droning sound when i got it up to 45mph or so.