Popping grinding noise coming from front wheel area

You probably have a bad wheel bearing or two. You might also have worn out CV joints.

There is no play in the wheel at all, while pushing north to south, leads me to believe that it could be the CV joints and or ball joints. How would i know if it's the transmission or front diff??

If you drain the oil in the diff or the transmission there will be a lot of metal particles in the oil if there is major bearing or gear failure going on. If the trans were making that amount of noise it would not be working properly.

Thank you, there is no oil or grease spinning or dripping out of CV joints or around bearings, anywhere. Will have more results later. She's 315900 mi, & runs great, just hoping to get"do- able" & "driveway-fixable" parts repaired/replaced. Has jolt going from 1st to 2nd in tranny.

Jack up the front end and try wiggling the wheels to see if there is any play top to bottom, if there is your bearings are worn. While you have it jacked up check the CV joints and the boots. Just be safe and use jack stands.

Did that already, as previously mentioned, no wiggle/play, no grease coming out or dripping. Hoping it's not trans or diffr.