Hi. I have a 2000 I30 with 62K miles on it. A couple of weeks ago I got into a pretty bad pothole and several days later I started hearing a knocking/bumping sound coming from the front right wheel. I tried rocking that wheel from side to side when the car was parked and felt some play. However, after some driving the play would disappear but then appear again. It's not consistent but what's consistent is that knocking sound when the wheel goes over potholes/bumps on the road (I assume it's because of the play).
I took the car to my local shop which I trust and they didn't feel the play when they lifted the car. Then I drove the car a little and the mechanic detected the play when I parked the car. He tried to see what's wrong but sliding under the car but couldn't tell. Once I moved the car for him to lift it, guess what - the play was gone once again. He took off the wheel and the rotor, checked the ball joint and all the nuts, the strut mount, and anything else that he could check short of taking the strut out - everything looked fine according to him. All he said is that it might be the wheel bearing or may be the strut itself.
Any ideas on what could be the problem? Is that the bearing (although the car doesn't seem to produce the noise you usually hear when the bearing goes bad)? Is that the strut? Something else? Why is play not consistent? Any suggestion on how to reproduce it consistently?