Should there be any play at all in wheel?

[alpine951]

I just put new front wheel bearings and a lower right ball joint in. There seems to be a bit of play still in the wheels. Its only noticeable with the tire on the car. Can't tell at all if I have the wheel off and try to wiggle the rotor. I don't see any play in the control arm bushings. Should there be none at all?

[Espresso]

Where is the play? In the top/bottom movement of the wheel or the front/back movement?
There will ALWAYS be play, but it depends on how much.

How did you adjust the wheel bearing & how did you pack them?

For the bearing adjustment. You install them & as you tighten down that round allen head "nut"( not sure what it is called). You spin the rotor & SLOWLY tighten until the rotor stops, then you back off a slight bit so there is very slight drag. Then tighten the allen bolt..you are done.
EDIT.. This should also be done with the brake off the car(no rotors, pads, ect..)

As for the ball joint up & down movement THERE SHOULD BE NONE!!!!!!! If there is & you have just put in a new one. Either suspect the A-arm is worn, or you improperly installed it.

When trying to wiggle the rotor with the wheel off. If you cant..YOU HAVE PROBLEMS. With the wheels off, the rotor is free floating only held in place by the brake pads(rotor is held solid when you torque the lug nuts). If it is extremely tight & wont wiggle you more than likely have a stuck caliper & the pads are pushing on your rotor..THIS WILL CAUSE A VIBRATION & PULLING to one side.

[alpine951]

Play is side to side only. None up and down. car rides soooo much better. There is a slight noticeable sound when I move the wheel from side to side. Bearings were done as you indicate for adjustment. I greases up the hup and spindle and both bearings. I didn't replace the races as they looked fine. Should I have replaced the races? After I put the inner bearing and grease seal on I put a few big globs of grease inside the hub then put it on the spindle, put the outer bearing in and adjusted it. I still have seven weekes to figure out the check engine light so I will look at the wheel play again to see if I can see any play elsewhere. The car has 103k miles on it. I noticed some oil on one of the shocks so those will get replaced also.

[Espresso]

Is the side/side noise consistant with BOTH wheels or just one side?
If both then it shoulds like it is time to replace the center link, or the stablizer shock.
The best way to pin-point it would be to have someone move the wheel while you look for the source of the sound.

When doing the bearings ALWAYS replace the races. Not all bearings are machined a the same angle & if the bearing doesnt sit properly in the race, you can have slight/severe wear & or breakage from stress. Not saying it will happen but I have seen it happen more times than not.