The complete lack of camber adjustment I find to be really unforgivable on a vehicle with 4 wheel independent suspension. I've recently found out this little detail myself and that there are kits that allow for camber adjustment. I've not yet shopped around, but at first look it seems it'll cost about $500 to make this car so that camber is adjustable. Also, after many internet searches, it seems that the alignment specs for this car aren't really ideal at least for even tire wear. I'm not sure what all goes into Ford's consideration when they come up with a vehicle's alignment specs, but I'm thinking of aligning mine differently or at least to one extreme of the specs.

 

The OEM Continental ContiTrac tires got noisy at about 30k miles. With rotations, we rode them to 54k with pretty bad cupping by the end. We put Nokian Vattiiva tires on it and the road noise immediately disappeared and hasn't reappeared in the 20k miles since.

New tires are the only way to fix your noise problem, but, of course, proper rotation extends the life of your tires.

 

An additional two cents: Similar noise issue with the stock Contis on my 2008 MMH, progressively worsening after 25K. At 36K, my wife couldn't stand the noise, although treadwear was OK. Alignment was OK, but have to admit I was not diligent about rotation. Bad cupping on the inner surface of the original tires, especially on the rears. Just installed the Michelin Latitude Tours now stock on the new FEH, noise is much better, and mileage seems ?better as well. For anyone who has installed an aftermarket camber kit-- what kit did you use? what specs for camber? I'd like to keep these new tires symmetric - and noise free - as long as possible (at $150 per they had better last for a while).

 

I just found this site in searching for information because my '06 2WD Ford Escape Hybird has a problem with a "roaring" noise and cupping on the inside of all four tires. I took it to the Ford dealer and they blamed alignment. I have faithfully rotated these tires but that hasn't seemed to help. I am getting ready to replace the tires and will have the alignment checked again. I will ask about the camber kit. This is an old thread but was wondering if that solved the problem for NCBryan or others?

 

After adding camber adjustment and then having the alignment adjusted by an independent shop, I can say that I have nicely even tire wear. That helps to reduce cupping at least on one side or the other. You still need to make sure your tires are rotated in order to really fight cupping. I talked with the manager of the independent shop about how to best align our 06 MMH. We've got it pretty much set with 0 camber. Whomever you go to ask for the alignment details printed out by the computer.

Oh, the camber kit was less than the $500 I posted before but that is mainly because I did the work. The camber bolts for the front are pretty cheap, <$20 IIRC. The rears require adjustable upper control arms. Those are more expensive. I think I paid around $70 apiece but I'm not sure. On the positive side, you'll get new rear ball joints out of the deal. Changing them out really is pretty easy. To get a really good alignment you'll need either new or at least evenly worn tires. I did all of mine to coincide with a tire change.

Good luck.