I had the car at an alignment shop today and they said it couldn't be aligned because there was excessive play in the wheel bearings. They wanted $45 to tighten the bearings just so they could do a $50 alignment job. Needless to say, i picked up the car and decided to do that much myself. I havent looked at it today, but last time i checked, the bearings seemed rock-solid.

so the questions stands, how much motion is deemed "excessive?"

 

If you can hear it pretty bad (jack up one corner of car and push/pull on the top of the tire), it means the wheel bearing is pretty bad. It will make a "clunk" sound when pushing or pulling. The alignment probably still could have been done, but it's one of those things the techs are programmed to do -- take your money if any little thing is wrong.

I haven't worked on a 3rd gen much (yet) so I don't know how hard of a DIY project that is.

 

any is excessive. the reason why they can not do an alignment is because with loose wheel bearings, you get a wrong camber reading. loose wheel bearings cause the tire to lean inward from the top. and with a wrong camber reading, you get a wrong toe reading. it may be worn ball joints if the wheel bearings are tight.

 

Im going to throw it on some jackstands tomorrow and check it out. Everything in the suspension is new, and i mean EVERYTHING, just check my wallet. Ill tighten them down and see what the shop can do then.
Thanks for the replies

 

While we're on the subjest, what's the best way to tset wheel berings? Push/pull on the top of the tire like my dad says??