when i drive...even at 20mph....my pass side wheel hops....bounces up and down...... what kind of issue is that... my wheel bearing??? anyone have any ideas...

 

Wheel could be out of balance...

 

Out of balance, bent rim, bad shock, or bad tire. To test the shock, push down on that corner of the car and let it come up fast. If it bouces, you need a shock. Any other tests should be done by a tire shop.

 

How long has it been doing this? Do you remember running over a pothole recently?

 

nah, just started happening, haven't driven car that much, i never run over potholes...i tried the shock thing before...and it was fine....i'll go get the wheel re-balanced to check

 

bad shock.............

 

Whoa, how little have you driven the car? If the car has sat for an extended period of time (I've heard of as little as 2 or 3 weeks) and you have a fairly soft tire compound, the tire could actually flat-spot from sitting for so long. It would go away after 10 or so miles of driving though so that's probably not what it is.

As for the strut test, you actually want to reach down and pull the car up. I bought a used car that I thought the suspension was in ok shape because I did that bounce test. The strut felt great! As it turned out, the strut was SO blown that the perch was sitting on the spring and the strut wasn't doing anything at all!

 

i need a better description of the "hopping".
and the balance, that's not probable....that would cause it to shake but to hop, it would have to be a square wheel for you to blame balance. that or you'd have to be half ****ing blind to not realize that it's ben to all hell.
if it's what i think it is, you mean hopping in the sense that you hear it rattle when you accelerate? is that a better description and therefore you define it as hopping. if THAT is the case, then you have yourself a bad strut. now, a wheel bearing will not cause hop. it would cause your car to drive with a mind of it's own as that's what control it's being straight. that's why people get alignments when they swap out wheel bearings.

i'm surprised at some of the reasons i just read regarding a hop. too funny.