Shakey wheel when driving, shakes when mounted? Any ideas?

[aqhbarrelracer]

I recently took my truck(1994 Ford Explorer 4 x 4)for a new brake line and found out my front,driver wheel is shaking when mounted(rocking it top to bottom, not left to right). You can rock it back and forth. When I drive, as I speed up I can feel it shaking. One mechanic said it was the ball joint. One things its the inner and outter bearings. One thinks it may be the sway bar. We took the wheel off and the ball joint looks fairly newer than the passenger side. What do you think it is? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

If it's "rocking" when you push top/bottom, that's normally the balljoint.

If it's moving when you go left/right, thats normally the wheel bearings.

If the passenger side balljionts look newer then the driver side (your problem side), i'd go ahead and start with replacing the balljoints on the driver side. While everything is apart, it may be a good time to look at the bearings and decide if they need to be replaced or not.