98 altima loose wheel bearing

Could Be many factors wheel bearings etc was the tires high speed balanced? Check inner outer bearing and tie rods etc !! More Info Please!!

I would say either ball joint or wheel bearing. You need to jack the car up and safely support it on a jack stand. Then move the wheel and look for where the movement is coming from. If there is very much movement at all, I would not think it would be safe to drive.

This could be your wheel bearing,raise front end on bad tire side and grab tire and move it around to see if it is loose,http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?fromSearchPage=true&pageId=0900c15280265793&partName=Front+Wheel+Bearings&partId=0900c15280265793

It is either the wheel bearing or the brakes.

A good way to test is to lift the rear of the car with a floor jack and grab the tire and try to rock it back and forth. If there is movement in the tire, then it is for sure the bearing. If it dont rock then your brake pads probably have been consumed and need to have new pads installed.

Both should be able to be repalced in your garage with basic hand tools if your up for it. The parts are available at your local Napa, Carquest, champion ect... for not too much money.

Good Luck

Sounds like you need some front end parts. You can narrow down the parts you may need though. Get a jack and some jack stands and raise the front of your vehicle so the front wheels are off the ground. The first thing I would check is the tie rod ends as this would give you loose steering. Now that your wheels are off the ground, take both hands and grab each side of a front tire and wiggle it side to side. Keep your eye on the other front tire. If you can move the tire side to side at all, even a little bit, and the other tire does not move side to side with it, you have bad tie rods. Locate the point where the tie rod end connects to the steering knuckle at the wheel. The tie rod end will have a rubber boot with a bolt going through with a nut and probably a cotter pin holding the nut in. Now wiggle the tire again and keep your eye on this spot where the rubber boot meets the steering knuckle. If your knuckle moves (even a little) and the tie rod end does not, THAT tie rod end is bad. There are inner and outer tie rod ends. You want to check the pivot point (the place that the tie rod end is connected) on the inner and outer tie rod ends on both wheels. Again, you are looking for one side to move and the other to not move. Even if it only looks like a couple mm, it is bad. There should be NO movement whatsoever. Once you have identified all loose parts by moving the wheels side to side, we can now check ball joints and bearings. To do this is very similar to what we just did only this time we grab the top and bottom of the wheel and try to move it back and forth. Pull the top of the tire towards you and push the bottom of the tire away from you then vise versa. There should be absolutely no wiggle. If you do get a little play here, locate your upper and lower ball joints. these too will have rubber boots on them and just like the tie rod ends, you are going to keep your eye on the point where the boot meets the A-arm. If you see any movement here, that ball joint is bad. Now, if your wheel wiggles back and forth but your ball joints are tight (zero movement) then you have issues with the wheel bearings. If you have to replace any tie rod ends you will have to have an alignment done because your toe will be off and you will wear out your tires. When replacing a tie rod end, prior to taking it off, count the number of threads that are visible. You want to leave that same number of threads visible when you install the new one. Keep in mind, this only gets the alignment close enough to get to the shop to have it aligned. Good Luck!!

Possibly a wheel bearing. Get the wheel on that side off of the ground safely, and then grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions and try to rock it back and forth.

If there is more than just a little movement, you need either ball joints or a wheel bearing.

this could be a bad inner axle joint check to see if the axle boot on the left side is torn or missing also check the wheel bearings and tie rod ends by jacking up the front of the vehicle one corner at a time and grab the tire at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position and wiggle it back and forth looking for excessive movement in the tie rod ends then reverse your hands to the top and bottom of the tire and try moving it from top to bottom checking for excessive wheel bearing movement it shouldn't move in or out at the top or bottom

Start off with a tire rotation. That should solve the problem. If problem presist the next best thing to do is have your wheel bearings checked. In order to check your wheel bearings you need to lift the car from the front (suspending the the front wheels. With both hands grab the tire on both sides and move with back and forth motions. If you find much play then you need to change your bearings. These things will cause movement at high rates of speed

Gary, Grand Prairie Texas

If you make a hard right or left hand turn (with steering wheel turned until it stops) you'll hear and feel a pop sensation.When you drive over potholes you'll feel a slight pull to one side.If it is one of the upper balljoints,you can grab the tire with both hands near the top(11 and 1 o'clock) and pull the wheel back and forth.You will feel looseness if the upper balljoint is bad.

The obvious (which you probably already did thing to check lst --are the lug nuts tight, is the center spindle nut tight. It could be the bearings,but I would then check your ball joints or tie rods. Grab the tire at the top and bottom, try to move the tire in and out. Have someone watching the ball joints to see if there is movement (aka, play, they are loose). Next grab the tire at the front and back, and again try to pull it in and out while someone watches. If you can see movement in these components, they should be replaced asap (car won't handle as well, tires wear out quicker, etc) good luck countrycurt0