Question is, what kind of tools do you have? Did you notice that big nut in the center of your hub? That has to come off. What, 34mm? Large breaker bar or impact. Would you believe of all the things I have replaced on these cars and its never been a bearing? Now that I said that....

My tool kit is decent but it's mostly geared towards motorcycles. I'm short on the big sockets and have less SAE than metric. I could nickel or dime the tools from there but I'll have to start with a set of jack stands....

A quick glance makes me think that the wheel bearings aren't meant to be replaced on their own and the entire hub is replaced as a unit.

http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/G...ent/index.html

If it's identical or similar to this I feel confident in doing the work myself, I just don't think I've really identified the problem yet.

Yes, the entire hub is serviced as one unit.

Duh!! I completley forgot Dan has a writeup in the TechInfo section on how to do this...

https://www.gmforum.com/showthread.p...19#post1443319

if you are going to do the big nut with out a impact, do it before you jack up the car. and autozone has those rent for free.

what i dont get is why they can make a wheel bearing that lasts 175-200k in a big bonnie and cant make one to last 75 in the wbody. my bonnie still has the oem ones too but my 03 monte, my old gp had to replace them a couple times

A concern. You indicated play side to side. Was there also play top to bottom? Play all around is usually a wheel bearing, play side to side only is usually a tie rod end. Wouldn't want you to replace something unnecessary.

Yep, I found equal play all around. I have replaced a couple motorcycle bearings and thought they were easy to diagnose since the bearing play was much more obvious and the noise was easier to hear. If all 3 of my other tires hadn't checked differently I wouldn't suspect anything was wrong with this one. No one at the alignment shop checked or suggested that the hub could be the source of my issues.

Thanks for a link to the write up. Nice trick using the extra nut and bolt to press the hub off from the back side. I have a 90psi rattle gun from HF that might take care of that nut with the appropriate socket. I will get some jackstands and crawl back under today to check for play in other areas.

cars are usually loud before they get alot of play too. the only one ive worked on like that was my father inlaws 05 hemi ram it was silent till the wheel fell off on his way to my house.

When you had it up did you grab the tie rod and give it a little push/pull, this is pretty much the same thing you are doing when doing the 3-9 o clock, but it will help you be sure the inner tie rod is not bad.
I recently replaced both sides inner and outer tie rods on my 96' PA, when I jacked it up I had play/noise at the 3-9, and almost sounded like a little from 12-6, since I was not totally sure I grabbed the tie rod and push/pulled it a bit, and instantly I heard the noise, and was sure the inner tie rod was bad.

If you cannot get air tools on that hub nut you can get this from HFT, it worked for me, but I used a lot of PB Blaster before I took the nut off.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-driv...bar-67933.html

If you need to get the 34mm socket it is not too pricey here.
http://www.sears.com/kd-tools-gm-34m...6&blockType=G6

Tip, use anti seize on the torx bolts threads, and the hub nut when you put it on, also you can use a little to coat the splines on the drive axle.
I think your torx bit you need is a T50, on my 96' PA that was the size anyway, I'll see if I can find out what size it is for sure.
I'd suggest having a good 5lb mallet on hand, that is all I used to break my wheel bearing from the axle, I had to bang on it till I broke a sweat, so if it does not come off easily do not be surprised.
If you do bang on it get a new hub nut, and use the old one to make sure you do not hit any threads on the axle, you want to run the nut up flush with the end of the drive axle, the reason I suggest getting a new one is that there is a good chance you will have issues with the old nut if you have to bang on it too hard, mine was flush and I still had to get a new hub nut, it is recommended to replace it anyway.
For your hub nut you want DORMAN Part # 615144, rockauto has them pretty cheap, but I'd check a auto part store near you.


I recommend Timken Wheel Bearings, they may be a little more than the cheaper brands, but IMO they are worth it.

If you find the tie rods are going bad, or if they ever go bad, I recommend AC Delco.

I put the car up again today to change the oil and fuel filter and couldn't detect anything wrong with the tie rods. I tried twisting and shaking everything I could get my hands on and found nothing there except a little play in the drivers side front wheel.

Now, what I did see was how the entire engine and transmission bounced up and down as I rotated the drivers side wheel. Just spinning it by hand causes everything to bounce in a surprising way. There seems to be a lot of play in the rear most engine/transmission mount.

I seen a video a while back about a 98' PA and those mounts, you can see in the video how the motor and trans moves when those mounts start to go bad, let me see if I can find it, not a great video, but ok to see how it can move a little more than it should.
Here we go.

I've not had to replace mine yet, so I cannot help with how to get it done if you plan to try to replace one of both of those mounts, but I am sure one of the others like Dan, Tom, or Mike can help you with how to get it done.