Wheel Bearings vs. Hub ssembly

[cjagg25]

88Camry...I have like a whomping noise in my driverside front tire.
Almost as if you where driving down the road with one lug nut on or
if you ride down the highway and you go over into the emergency lane
you hit the what I like to call "wake-uppers" .
I jacked it up and the lug nuts was totaly tight, but if you put your hand
at the 12'oclock and 6'oclock positon the wheel would rock back and forth.
witha couple inches of play.IS THIS THE BEARINGS??????????????
The tire is brand new, and have recently been balanced. does this sound like
the bearings.ALSO MY BIG QUESTION IS HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER TO REPLACEJUST THE BEARINGS OR THE WHOLE HUB. THERE IS ABOUT A 100.00 DIFFERENCE IN PARTS AND 50 BUCKS IN LABOR IS WHAT i WAS TOLD!!!
WHEEL BEARINGS 27.99..HUB ASSEMBLY 179.99

[atobe]

it's the wheel bearing.. it shouldn't have any play like what your description

[alltracman78]

Hub is usually replaced to ensure the bearing won't go bad again.

Sometimes the hub is damaged by the bad bearing.
The worse the bearing, the more chance of a bad hub.

If you have inches of play, most likely the hub is bad also.
The only way to tell is to tear it apart though.

[jaduncan]

I got everything at the pick yard. Knuckle,hub,rotor,and caliper for $20.00! (Realignment was $60.00.)
That bearing is gonna have to be pressed out of there. Unless it falls out in pieces! Then you more than likely got scoring on the halfshaft and the hub!


Allen

[IvanHoe]

When you buy the hub, it comes with the bearing as well...so in my opinion it's better to buy the hub and do the whole thing........I had a bad bearing recently and stupidly did only the bearing....only to find out that it was a bad hub that causing the bearing problem.....oh well, live and learn.......