The front end, drivers side wheel on my 97 Blazer is sitting like this / and the whole wheel is nearly falling off. My boyfriend got in there and replaced the smashed ball bearings, put it back together and as soon as I rolled 2 feet in drive there was a loud POP, & I was back to square one with the slanted wheel.
I recently had new brakes put on and my boyfriend noticed when he got it all apart that they neglected to replace the washer between the wheel and the main nut. Was wondering if this could be the reason for the repeat malfunction, if maybe I just got some bad bearings or if something more serious is going on? I have checked out everything in the area and nothing else appears to be busted or damaged so I'm at a loss; any advice anyone could toss my way would be appreciated.
On a side note, does anyone know if an improper tow could cause the type of problem I'm having? The city towed my car a few days ago for having a flat on a hill/curve. My jack broke as I was fixing the flat and I had left to get another, so I was not present at the time (i.e. my car was locked and parking break was on). The tow truck driver hooked my car to the wench from behind and then dragged it that way approx. 10 ft. until they were able to straighten it out and get it fully up on the trailer. Until this point, I had not been having any issues; noises or anything out of the ordinary, coming from my front tires. I drove it for 2 days (42 miles) and then POP, crooked tire. If the tow did indeed do this to my vehicle, is there even anything that I can do as far as getting reimbursed for my expenditures?

 

Sounds more like an upper ball-joint issue to me. Could also be the upper control arm adjustment bolts (used for wheel alignment). Those adjust the camber (slant) of the wheel. If the bolt has loosened, they could slip. Either the ball-joints being worn or the camber adjustment bolts slipping could cause the popping noise you've mentioned.

 

No idea about thw tow. But that's not good... would double check wheel bearing, that nut NEEDS to be PROPERLY torqued. As well I would check tie rods and ball joints.