I'd vote for the wheel bearings. They don't have to be hot. If you
pulled the bearings, chances are he never looked at the bearing races.
It's the race that gets cupped or spawled. Sometimes very hard to see
with the naked eye. A magnifying glass revieles a differant story. My
advice is to change the inner and the outer on both sides. Chances are
it needed it anyway. The reason i say both sides is because it's very
hard to determine which side. Just do it.