This is continued from a prior posting about the grinding sound when coming to a stop. It first started with the grinding sound like I had bad brake shoes (new) and would only happen when I was out of gear and slower than 20 mph.

I pulled the tire off tonight and spun the wheel. The brake pads where touching the rotor and making noise but not the grinding. So I removed the caliper and felt the for play in the rotor. The hub was moving a bit with play. I pulled out the cotter pin and when the nut was removed the outer bearing fell out. The whole thing came off leaving the inner bearing on the spindle. I cleaned out the old grease that looked pretty wet and fresh. Packed the bearing and put it back into the hub and tapped the metal seal (?) to hold it in. When replacing the outer I tightened the bolt while moving the hub and then backed it off and then tightened with the fingers tight with no play in the rotor like it had before.

My guess is that the adjustment was off enough to make the insides rub/grind.

One question I do have, how much play do the bearings have when they are off the car. The two bearings inside and outside part with the bearings between could be moved in and out a bit. Do new bearings have that play or have they been damaged?

How does the adjustment all of a sudden change? I thought in july I'd checked for play but found none. When I put it all back together the problem seemed to be solved. I have to wonder about it being a very easy thing to mess with if someone had it in for you. Lets just say I have some suspicion due to a situation a couple months ago with an employee of a parts store who wouldn't own up to his lie. The front passenger wheel is the most hidden from the street and blocked by my other car. Thats a long shot but it still makes me wonder seeing it all of a sudden changed. Unless the bearings are bad. But they looked new, newly packed and a good brand.
Thanks