I have a 2004 FX4 with 105,000 miles on it and I have a strange noise that has developed in the front end, mostly seems to be on the drivers side. The noise starts off as a faint "chirping" sound when I'm driving at highway speeds and it only happens when I turn the wheel slightly to the right. The longer I drive the more noticeable the noise becomes. Today, coming home from the mechanic, the noise became a very loud "grinding, squeaking" type of sound and it sounded like a rock was stuck in my brakes. The noise doesn't change when hitting bumps and there are no vibrations or steering issues that I can tell. The mechanic couldn't find any problems in the front end at all, even though he heard the "chirping" sound.

I've read all the forums and couldn't find any problems like this one. I've changed the IWE solenoid figuring it was worth a shot, but it didn't help. The fwd seems to be working fine. There's no play in the bearings, and everything else under there seems to be good and tight, and all the boots look good. I'm lost as to where to check next. The mechanic couldn't find any issues and I'm worried I'm gonna start replacing things that don't need to be replaced. So I'm here to ask the experts for some help.

Also, I'm in need of some new tires and would love some input on them too. I don't go off road alot, but when i do, it's usually in mud or sand. So any suggestions here would also be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Found out the problem. It ended up being a wheel bearing issue. I guess it just was going out slowly.