It's funny how noises can pop up after doing work to something completely unrelated. Been there, done that. It may be that you're a little more attentive after having work done.
The preload (amount of torque on the spindle lock nut) for the front bearings is one of those head scratching items. If you follow the procedure in the FSM, quite often when you come back to check play in a 1000 miles or so, there will be some present. You can check for play by jacking the front wheel off the ground, grab the tire at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock and with opposing force (pushing with one hand, pulling with the other) see if you feel any movement. You probably won't be able to see it move, but if there's play you can feel it bump as you go back and forth. If you have play, you need to reset the preload, otherwise it can eventually trash the wheel bearings.
You should do this 500 to 1000 miles after any service on the front end that requires removing the hub such as repacking bearings, replace rotors, axle seals etc...
Glad you got it fixed. Sorry you had to drop that kind of cash. If you have any inclination to work on you're own vehicle, you should consider getting a Factory Service Manual and taking over the maintenance of you're rig. It was a $200 dollar brake pad replacement job 4 1/2 years ago that made me decide to learn to do my own maintenance. These vehicles are not overly complex and are pretty easy to work on. In addition to that there are some very good web forums out there for these vehicles, and a lot of folks that do their own work on them. Most any repair you can come up with (and a lot you would have never known of until stuck on the side of the road) have been done and fairly well documented.
Regards,
Rookie
Thanks again, Rookie. Based on the recent experiences, that is exactly what I decided to do - to get my hands dirty. Just picked up a floor jack and a pair of jack stands. I am ready to learn as it goes... I am sure you will hear from me from time to time...
Cheers,
Xin