Growling coming from front left tire area.

Swapped tires front to back but noise stays at front left.

AT and diff fluids fresh and at proper level.

No clicking from CV joints.

Sound doesn't seem to change when steering left or right.

Could it still be wheel bearing?

Edited October 21, 20214 yr by brus brother

yup, most likely is

fronts dont go nearly as often as rears, but they do go...

quick and dirty test.. after driving for a little bit.. check the hub area on both sides for temp.. carefully! if the hub area feels significantly warmer on the left vs the right, then yeah.. either bearing or dragging brakes.. in this case, i would definitely suspect bearing. (and no, you dont need to pull the tire to do this test.. the heat will transfer outward.)

Next "quick and dirty" test - jack the car up and rotated the wheel while lightly holding the spring.. a lot of times bad bearings will transfer that "crunch" to the spring and you can feel the spring vibrate..

Front wheel bearing.  If it's been replaced before then it's probably some cheap brand. 

If it's an aftermarket axle then it could be garbage as well, they're really good at finding surprising, creative, ways to fail.