a little background info first. i have a 92se that i bought a couple months ago and it had a blown tranny so i never got to drive car until now. I purchased a tranny and put it in. It went pretty well considering i have never done a job like that before. i noticed that when car is jacked up the drivers side front tire has a lot of play in all directions when i shake it. when i tried to drive car it make a grinding noise which just doesnt sound safe to drive. i think it might be the wheel bearing but i'm not sure. Is there anything else i should check before i figure out how to take the damn hub off?

 

If lugs are tight and wheel is still easy to shake it could be a bad wheel bearing. If so it is very dangerous to drive on, could lose a wheel.

 

The wheel bearing does sound bad because of the grinding sound, but it would have to be totally gone to give much movement. It sounds like you have more than one problem. If you take the hub off it will be easy to tell if the bearing is that bad.

 

I'm thinking Ball joint / tierod (or both )