roaring noise sounds like old hard tires ( but isn't )

Wheel bearings, maybe? (Front or rear.)

Check the wheel bearings. If a bearing was really bad, they should have noticed it when they changed the tires, but they may not have.

If it's the transmission or the differential, you can drive it until it finally fails. If it's the wheel bearing, you do NOT want to be driving it when it fails.

If you have 107K miles and have never changed the transmission fluid, it might be time to do so. I assume you have an automatic?

--scott

wheel bearing gaurantee

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Although, sometimes differentials fail by locking up solid. That gets a little inconvenient at highway speeds.

Sounds like wheel bearings to me too. Try this: get it going in reverse at a pretty good clip, and see what the noise does when you step on the brakes. If it gets louder when braking in reverse, but quieter when braking going forward, it might be the rear bearings.

Is this an Aerostar with all-wheel-drive, btw?

I'll second that. In fact, you can pull the bearing and just replace the dang thing if you have a service manual. It ain't rocket science, and like Scott says, you don't want to lose a bearing while at highway speed, or I will add, ANY speed.

Lg

My 1990 FWD Protege made the same sound at 220K miles and it was the rear (lifetime) bearings. Louder on left hand curves...quieter on right hand.

My thinking, having BTDT, is that this needs _immediate_ attention...either by a registered mechanic or the OP if he has a high skill level and the right tools.

Lg

Why suspect the transmission?

But this morning at 60 on the freeway

Wheel bearing. Putting on the brakes or going around a corner alters the loading of the wheel bearing, therefore altering the sound.

Now you gotta find out which one.

To do that, you can jack each wheel off the ground, get the weight of the wheel/tire OFF the hub/bearing ass'y, ( use a hydraulic jack ), and grab the tire by the top/bottom, and rock it. If it rocks, you got a problem. Grab it horizontally left/right. Rock it. If it rocks, you got a problem.

You might just put enough hydraulic pressure under the tire to begin moving the strut/shock. Just at that point...do the rock-it test.

I don't know about your car, if you have an inner / outer tapered bearing, or if it is or isn't loaded. My guess is it is one bearing, in the hub, not loaded. You usually just replace the hub and bearing as an ass'y, AFAIK.

Now someone is going to say, no, you can take/push the bearing out. Depends on the vehicle. On my car, just get a new hub/bearing assy, pre-lubed at the factory, and pop it on.

Lg