In the past a common practice to find a bad bearing was just shaking the wheel (based on assumption that bad bearing will have a lot of clearance). While it is true for double roller bearings, a typical sign of ball bearing failure is a dent or nick on the race, so there will be no play but the noise.(Common trick to turn from side to side will not pinpoint this problem either)
Front Wheel Bearing -- DIY Walkthrough
in Walkthroughs :: Basic Operation & Maintenance
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In the past a common practice to find a bad bearing was just shaking the wheel (based on assumption that bad bearing will have a lot of clearance). While it is true for double roller bearings, a typical sign of ball bearing failure is a dent or nick on the race, so there will be no play but the noise.(Common trick to turn from side to side will not pinpoint this problem either)
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6224/6233150546_bea61b3497.jpg
And this is how the defective race looks outside:
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6235873319_81a8521ba2.jpg