Good idea. Gonna do some work on it tonight.
D'oh, fell asleep waiting for it to stop raining, not having a garage sucks Well I got one more chance after work tomorrow before it goes in the shop.
Update: Jacked up the front wheels, checked wheel bearings with the usual shakey test done in safety check. No extra play or weird noises. Now when I rolled the wheel while turned, I got a slight leathery rubbing noise from the offending front-right wheel. It doesn't make the noise when the wheel is pointed straight and I don't get the noise from the other side.
I recorded a video and I'll upload it later.
Update 2: Tried running the wheels at idle revs in 1st, 2nd and reverse. No unusual noises, the reason I tried 2nd is because it's quieter in case the gear noise was covering something up.
Only odd thing I found is that the offending front-right wheel seemed to be showing more drag as the steering angle increases, especially in 2nd - at full right lock, I was tapping the throttle around idle revs and the wheel was barely twitching.
Try switching the front wheels side to side?
Also, have you checked for the noise with the wheels off the car? Could be something in the brakes.. I dunno
Update: Mechanic had the car for a couple of days, still couldn't find it after checking everything suggested. He suspects it may be the lower control arm, although the bushings are pretty new, tightness on the mounts and ball joints has been checked. There's a weld in the LCA that could be coming loose, either that or it could be the rust around the rear mount point I mentioned earlier. I'll check those this morning.
The LCA won't make noises unless it's under load. The way you say the r/f wheel binds up, I'd be very tempted to say outer CV.
You might try this: get both wheels off the ground, then turn the steering all the way to the right with the engine running and the car in gear, then use a board or etc to stop the left wheel from turning and listen at the right side. Yeah, this would probably take 3 people: one to hold the steering, one to use the board and one to listen. Unless you have really long arms. It would really be good to be able to do this on a lift, that way you could easily walk around under the car and listen.
Update: Those who guessed it was a bushing were on the right track. It was the newish rear bushing of the front LCA, not damaged but slipping back and forth slightly. The plan is to modify the arm to keep the bushing from slipping. Still it's the 2nd greatest noise-to-actual-problem ratio I've experienced next to a worn sway bar link.
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