99 Grand Prix noise in front end

Help,
My 99 Grand Prix has a noise in the left front end. I've removed the CV shaft to be rebuilt. With it removed I noticed that the differential side gear (where the CV shaft is inserted into) has some side play. Is this normal? How much is normal? All help is appreciated, thanks some play is normal.what kind of noise are you hearing ?cv shaft failures are not common anymore The noise is a bearing noise, a low growl or whurling noise. it did not seem to change in a turn. Frequency varied with road speed. the end play of the diferential gear is about 1/8 in. This is using a rather crude method of measurement. I would suspect a hub bearing before a cv joint.when you test drive gradually turn the wheel side to side,sometimes the change faint.also cupped tires can cause excessive noise,something to checkCar Repair Talk's forum.