'96 Ranger - Noise In The Driver Side Wheel (Sounds Bad)

Hi all...I'm thinking of buying a '96 Ranger XLT 4x4 with 120k miles. The engine sounds very nice but it does need a tune-up. Here's the problem. As soon as you start driving from a cold start, a horrible noise (not very loud) comes from the driver-side front wheel/axle. The best way to describe the noise is as follows...It sounds as if you're fishing with a spinning real and a big fish takes the bait...the faster the fish swims away (or the faster you drive), the louder and more frequent the ticking/winding sound gets (it doesn't really sounds like gears though). Then after about 10-15 minutes, if you stop the truck and then continue, the sound completely goes away and the ride is as normal as any other. Very, very strange. If anyone has ever experienced anything like this or can offer any suggestions, I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks.....Dave

dave,
it sounds like it could be a bearing, I had a 87 once that the wheel came off when I was driving it.( I was 16 and nieve) Sounded about the same, it took 700.00 to fix the axle and all. I left the body damage. The noise came and when as you descibed. beware.

What you are hearing is the automatic hubs trying to engage. If there is any resistance in the front U-joints they try to engage.