Does the sound change with the AC turned on?

 

Air cleaner bracket, RC cola cap stuck in the alternator (really), loose wheel house liner, loose bumper cover

 

Not necessarily. Same for CV joints.

With bearings as well as CV joints, the noise is caused by damaged surfaces rubbing/grinding against each other and causing vibration. Under acceleration, the forces are greater so that effect would likely be more intense. And noise will be more audible at certain speeds due to resonance.

My money is on a CV joint but I wouldn’t eliminate a bearing.

 

Bad bearings in the early stage usually only make noise when under a load.

 

Bad hubs can scrape and grind at low speed while turning, howl at highway speeds and wobble at city speeds.
In theory hub bearings are always under load, the weight of the car engine and transmission bare down on the front hubs.

 

Not when the wheels are of the ground...

 

Well I can't beat that.

 

Well I can't beat that.

My point exactly. I don't think I worded it well at all.

 

I just changed both hubs out last week, after 2 1/2 years and 40,000 miles. With our pot hole ridden roads , they failed. I always change both sides!

 

will update more later as i do repairs/tune up... to answer oldblue's question, does the noise whether ac is on or off... also only seems to do it on initial acceleration - which i assume is either in 1st or 2nd gear, but if you are already going 40+ and it's in 3rd or 4th, it doesn't seem to make any sound at the 2500 rpm mark... the more I listen for it the more it seems it is a very brief sound.