When i jack the front end up the tire has a lot of play what could be wrong?

ball joint has gone or could even be the wheel bearing. jack up the front with wheel on and hand on wheel 9 to 3 and wiggle and then 12 to 6 do the same if there is alot of movement the bearing has gone. ball joint check all the connectors on that side steering etc if they move side to side easy then the ball joint has gone they should be stiff to move.

It sounds like you may have a wheel bearing/ hub assembly starting to go bad...You can check this by jacking up the front end and checking for slight play in each wheel when you try to move tire in a side to side,and up and down motion basically But you just want to use a wiggle motion...you should be able to feel a bit of excessive play in the side which is going bad...One side will be tight with no play,and the other will have some play if the wheel bearing hub assembly is going bad...

check your lug nuts first. if there tight jack the front of the car off the ground, then wiggle the tire left to right and up and down. if you have any play then your wheel bearings are out. if you dont have play then reach around to where your front wheel drive axle attaches and wiggle it in the same fassion. you should have your answer when you do this to both sides

you lift the car up on jacks so that the tires are off the ground, then you put jack stands in placement. then you loosen ONLY THE BOLTS ON THE TIRE IN THE AIR remove the tire let the car down on to the jack stands, and move the jack to the next and do the same what you do is take the passenger side back tire and switch it with the drivers side front tire. then you take the drivers side back tire and switch it with the passenger side front tire. make sure the bolts are tight as you can get them then you are done. i hope this information helps. Be careful and drive safe!

Two options to try first; tire is not on tight, or the ball joint is bad. Either is an easy and cheap fix. Try the tire first, make sure all the lug nuts are tight. If so, it is your ball joint. Imagine a ping pong ball with a screw sticking out of the bottom of it. That is the ball joint. jack up the car, try to wiggle the tire, if the ball joint has a lot of play that if definitely the problem. Not expensive to fix either. If the tire/wheel doesn't go back and forth (has a lot of play) you should take it to a mechanic to see if the tie rods are on correctly. 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!!

On my car, it was a stuck brake caliper.

I suggest your check the front end. Jack up one wheel at a time, and shake the tire side to side - there should be no play felt, if there is, there may be a loose inner or outter tie rod. Next shake the tire at the top and bottom, if there is any play felt there, it could be a worn ball joint of wheel bearing

Check your upper and lower ball joints for play - jack up the front end and grab the tire (bottom and top) if tire moves in and out by pushing and pulling on tire (ball joints are worn) -- also check your track bar by grabbing the tire on each side and wiggling, have someone look at your steering components while this is being done and if the is any play in the joints (they are worn)

The sway bar linkage probably came undone on one of the sides. Wikipedia has a picture of what your sway bar linkage may look like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sway_bar

That is a picture of a Porsche sway bar, but the idea is the same. Make sure all bolts are tight and that one end is not missing the linkage that connects it to the spring/strut. The grinding of the brakes may be the sound of the linkage piece touching the rotor. Sway bar is a logical solution to both issues.

If that doesn't fix the issue, put the front end of the truck on blocks or jack stands and have somebody wiggle the tire up/down and side to side while you inspect the mechanical components underneath. Other things to check may be the ball joints, tie rod ends and suspension bits.