Wheel Play.. bad bearings?

[krackle]

First off, forums have been a great help, tons of great information and helpful people here.

I Have a 97 4x4 sport and noticed a loud whining sound and vibration from passenger side wheel when merging onto the interstate. Jacked it up when I got home and noticed that the wheel had about an 1/8th inch of play from wherever i shook it. The rotor seemed to be moving with the wheel.

From what I read, the wheel should have virtually have no play and it's most likely the bearings going bad. Does this sound right?

The ball joints are also shot so I was going to replace the upper ball joints, lowers, and outer tie rod end. Should I bother replacing the inner tie rod ends or anything else while I've got everything off? Has about 80k miles on it, parts look to be the originals.

Thanks for any help.

 

[coppe]

mine had a bit of play just like yours (difference is mine is 4x2) and i thought bearings also, but apparently (after asking to my trusty mechanic) mi problem is in the steering system, in the rack and pinion area; what i didn´t noticed was that the play was involving the steering connections and rods also. Thay told me it was like a 150-200$ work and parts, and that it is low risk and wear, so i´ll wait to save some money and have it fixed.

 

[Dilbert5]

Your diagnosis sounds likely. There should be very little play. You may want to purchase the inner tie rod ends while you're at it. Once everything is apart, closely check the inner rod ends. If they are good you can always return them, (keep the new one's in the bag until you decide, parts stores are much more willing to return if the box is clean, they can just throw them back on the shelf then).