When I changed my wheels I gave the car a good shake by holding the rear wheel and tugging at it and noticed that there was a slight tapping noise. I have been told that either it is normal and that rear wheel drive cars do have a slight amount of play which could be causing this or that my bearings could be bad. Any ideas?

 

Its normal for slight movment. The axel will move back and forth, the only thing keeping it from sliding out is the C-clips on the end of the axel shaft. No probs to worry about.