Play/slight wobble in front wheel

[acerocknroll]

While replacing my front driver's side brake caliper/pads/rotor I noticed when putting the wheel back on that there was a little bit of play even when the lug bolts are torqued to spec. I don't notice it as much side to side but can feel it when pulling with my hands at 12 and 6 oclock. I don't have any strange noises or vibrations when driving (only took it around the block to test the brakes), from a cursory Google search it seems that I'm looking at probably the ball joint or the bearing/hub unit most likely, but are there any other tests I can do myself to try to narrow it down? Nothing seemed loose or wobbly when I took the wheel off again and tried to move things around by hand. The amount of play is also fairly small - is there ever an "acceptable" or normal amount of movement? I can try to post pics if that is at all helpful.

[gogmorgo]

If you can get a look at the ball joints while you're doing that, you may be able to tell that there's some movement. Watch the upright in relation to the "C".

A bad wheel bearing is usually accompanied by a "growling" noise when rolling -- but not always.

 

If it is the ball joint, generally speaking any play at all is considered undesirable. But that being said I've put about 5000 miles on ball joints so bad they've separated on my MJ. I have a new set but I've been putting off changing them because I've been planning on swapping out the CAD d30 for a non-CAD version, but haven't actually got around to it yet... But I know I'm playing with fire here, and have been reasonably gentle with the truck. Don't take that to mean you shouldn't treat this as an urgent solution, but rather that you should still get away with driving it to a shop.

The cheapest source of OEM ball joints is Amazon. You want the Spicer 706944X. It's a set of both upper and lower... even if only one is bad, may as well do both while you're in there... The other won't be far behind. Get the OEM ones... just about everything else is either junk or really $$$.

[HOrnbrod]

Agree with possible bad ball joints. A good way to check them is to jack up one side at a time, slide a 2x4 from the side under the wheel, and have a helper lift it up and down while you're under there eyeballing the upper and lower ball joints. Any visible movement at all and the joints should be replaced.