front wheel bearings?

Hello, I own a 96 metro 3 cylinder with 197,000 miles on it. I replaced the tires in the early part of october by late october i noticed that my gas milage droped by 5mpg to 42mpg which i assumed was because of the winter gas mix. Also i noticed that while in neutral i did not coast as far as i usually do. I then started to hear a metal rubbing sound coming from my right front tire while at low speeds less than 10mph. It sounded kind of like a rock stuck agianst the break pad.
I assumed it was the breaks, so i replaced the pads and the calipers. while doing this i noticed that the right front tire did not rotate easily were as the left did. I put it all back together in some freezing rain and did not see any improvement. I now hear the noise very seldom but i am down to 35mpg were as last winter i was at 42mpg and in the summer i had around 50mpg. I have put off working on it till spring due to low gas prices and the lack of a garage-minnesota winters are to cold- to work in.

I read on this forum that to replace tire bearings you need special tools and it is better to have a shop replace them.
So finally to my question is the tire difficult to rotate because of bad bearings? and can i replace them at home, if i have to have a shop do it i would just as soon go back to 42 mpg before spring.

thank you

Here is a write up from another forum.

http://www.teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29003

If you don't have a press, the best thing to use is an oversized socket. I did a rear wheel bearing last month, and the oversized socket made the instalation much easier.

Your issue does sound like a wheel bearing, but also make sure that your rotor shield is not rubbing up against the rotor. That will also make a gringind noise. You can just put the shield back away from the rotor with your hands if it is making contact.

Also make sure your dirve shafts joints are ok.