[unisoul]

In my opinion this does sound like a wheel bearing issue. It is common when having ball joint issues, that it will also impact the wheel bearing and cause wear. It is very plausible that if you had ball joint issues, that you will later have wheel bearing issues at the same time or later down the road.

In your situation, there was a bad boot on the outer joint, which could explain why the ball joint may have been bad. In turn the axel was replaced because in this model you cant simply replace the ball joint, the whole axel assembly has to go. But you are still getting bump when turning

There is a small possibility that the problem always was with the wheel bearing and that you didnt need to replace the axel. When they replaced the axel, they simply said, "It is bad" but they didnt specify if the ball joint was worn, because they probably didnt inspect the ball joint. More than likely, not to bash the mechanic who replaced the axel was just in it for the money and was lazy. What a real mechanic should have done is inspect the ball joint before replacing the axel. This is very simple to do. If no wear is detected, replace boot, regrease, and replace the wheel bearing, as it is a cheaper fix. Test the car, and if that doesnt resolve the issue, then the ball joint could need replacing.

Also the worse case senario, is that the transmission is going out, due to not checking the transmission fluid enough/ wear ect. But by your description it more sounds like a wheel bearning was installed incorrectly, or is worn and needs replaced. Should cost $40 for the part $60 for labor, estimate around $100 - $120.

I would suggest to first replace the wheel bearing (more than likely it will have to be machine press installed). If replacing the wheel bearing doesnt fix the issue, to take it to a transmission specialist.