Howling Noise

[biot]

I have a 2002 Explorer, 4.0, XLS that has a howling noise when I reach 50 MPH and goes on till about 65 MPH. My passengers in the back say the noise comes from the back, but I think it is coming from the left front side of the car. Today I went on a deserted road and put the car in neutral and turned off the engine at a speed of 60 MPH. The noise continued, so I now know it does not come from the engine. I have seen other threads that have the culprit as the rear differential. If it were the differential, would the noise stop when I put the car in neutral and turn off the engine as I did? My rear tires are new, my front tires are two years old, but still in good shape. I am now wondering if it could be the tires. If it were the tires, though, why would the noise only be heard in the 50 - 65 MPH range? The other thing I am thinking is front driver side bearings. My question again, though, if it were the bearings, why would the howling be limited to the 50 - 65 MPH range? Does anyone have any ideas or had a similar situation?

 

[biot]

For those of you that might have a similar problem, it turned out that my front bearings were causing the howling sound. I would have expected a grinding metallic sound on bad bearings. My car has 85,000 miles on it already and I've had to replace all the wheel bearings.