Give me your opinion!

[SHOByrds]

I know that i have slowly leaked grease from axle cv boot closest to trans....well yesterday suddenly i heard groaning and grinding noise from front driver side wheel area. Jacked the car up and the wheel is move-able side to side and top to bottom..yikes. Took the wheel off and temporarily injected more grease into boot. I can pull the axle end (the part with bolt coming through the rotor) back and forth about a quarter inch.
This seems like a bad wheel bearing right? and probably should go ahead and replace the axle. Replacing the boot is a pain!

I have recently replaced tie rod ends control arm and couple other front suspension parts but didnt notice this problem then...it seemed to happen all at once.

 

[-DVP-]

Replace both. Torque axle nut properly.

 

[rubydist]

yup, bad wheel bearing.

replacing the axle is hardly more money than replacing the boot, and then you have all new stuff, so I would just replace the axle.

 

[sdpatt]

The remanufactured CV halfshafts are about $60 and come with a lifetime warranty. It is cleaner and easier to replace the entire halfshaft than to repack and replace the boot. It sounds like the hub (axle) nut was not tightened on last install and had loosened on the shaft. It took a while for it to get to the point where it will allow 1/4" of play in the hub. This is a dangerous condition and caused premature failure of the wheel bearing.

 

[SHOByrds]

Is there a write up on replacing the wheel bearing? I know about what to do but i guide would be nice!