Go back and check your bearing play again with the wheel off the ground. You described shaking the wheel to test the bearings. Try going a bit less animal this time. Grab the tire top and bottom, and gently try to rock the wheel at an angle. You're trying to feel for bearing play, without yanking so hard as to start tweaking on the suspension parts. Most bad bearings I've had had just minor lateral movement, but movement is wear.

 

i gently checked it not too long ago and still with just one wheel off the ground i feel play when my hands on the tire 12 and 6. i looked from behind it when i checked it and niether balljoints had play so im definitely sure its the hub bearing. if the rotors were warped bad could that have caused the bearing to go bad like craby was saying

 

If a rotor is warped, you'll feel it as a pulsating brake pedal. Was it?

 

Just throwing this out there....Did you repack the new wheel bearing before you installed it in the car? Many times bearings come with just a minimal smear of grease on them, really just enough to keep them from rusting sitting on the shelf.

If you neglected to repack the bearing before installation, then it is possible that you ran it dry and it overheated, causing premature failure. It really wouldn't take very long to ruin a new bearing this way.

 

^ The fronts are a sealed, one piece bearing hub assembly. Ain't no repacking those.

 

yeah it was pulsating terrible if i was going 30+ and once it got hot it was harder to stop

but does a pulsating rotor and pad give off more heat than one in good condition??

 

I was unaware of this. I have opened up "sealed" bearing on my motorcycles and added grease to them. They are almost completely dry coming from the factory.

But I have not yet had the need to open up the front wheels on my '94.

 

On my RS the metal sleeve within the shock mount completely ripped out and the dogbone above it rusted through, and there was therefore nothing holding the shock in place above.

When doing new shocks, be sure to use a light coating of anti-seize grease on threads.

 

If it's pulsating, chances are the rotor is warped -- it's usually heat that causes the warping -- heavy brake use. If the wheel sticks when you rotate it and the wheel is off the ground -- it's probably the warped rotor against your pads -- so whenever you have unusual/unintended friction, that will generate more heat.

 

the repeated pressure in and out from the warped rotor would not be good on the bearing on its own, add the heat and you got a unfriendly environment for a bearing. now if the abs is failing that can also cause pulsating in the brakes, actually pulse on there own, peddle does weird stuff too and is a completely different feeling than warped rotors.