2002 pont grand prix howling noise in front and pulls to dr. side a little

[x1957x]

I have a 2002 pont. grand prix that makes a lot of howling noise and the faster it goes the louder it gets. It pulls to the pass. side a little bit. Could it be a wheel bearing or strut? Any ideas and what to look for would be greatly appreciated..

[Jeremy airjer W]

Struts clunk or moan when you go over bumps.

Apply the emergency brake or block the rear wheels. Put the car in nuetral, and jack the front tires off the ground by jacking up on the subframe or pinch weld. Spin each tire with one hand while holding the spring with the other. You will be able to "feel the noise" if it is a bad bearing. you can also push/pull on the tire at the 6 and 12 o'clock position to see if there is play in the bearing. Push/pull at the 3'oclock position to see if there is play in the ball joint, push/pull at the 9 o'clock position to check for tie rod end play.

Typically if one bearing is bad it will make more noise during one way and less turning the other way. If the noise is constant an in a straight line its more often tires. Make sure the tread is smooth, not cupped. and the tire is true, no bulges in the tread. one thing you can do is rotate the tires and see if the noise/pull follows. If it does than you'll need two tires. You can also swap the front tires side to side and see if the car pulls the other way. If it does you'll need a couple new tires.

Alignment issues usually cause slight pulls to the left or right. Hard pulls are usually caused by the tires and is called radial pull. Many times a pull can be resolved by simply swapping the front tires side to side.