Glad to hear that you got it fugured out. Thanks for updating the thread so we all can learn from it. I know that I did. I wouldn't say that you made any mistakes though, sometimes these things can be hard to diagnose.
I thought for sure that you would feel or hear the problem when you spun the wheel. I know now from my own experience today also, that that's not always the case.
I had what I thought to be a bad bearing also. Mine wasn't clicking but it was growling. I jacked up the car and spun and tried to rock both front wheels and they felt fine. Tight and smooth. I thought that if I could spin them faster, I might hear the problem then.
I wrapped some duct tape on a big socket (yes, I'm a big "Red Green Show" fan
) I put the socket on an impact wrench, and made sure that it was on there tight (I didn't want it flying off). I put the front end on jackstands, spun the tire to get it started, and held the socket to the tire and pulled the trigger on the impact wrench (see photo, I used both hands though).
I got the tire spinning real fast, and sure enough, I could hear the bad bearing (I compared the sound to the sound the other wheel made when spinning).
You guys can go ahead and laugh (I had a big grin on my face too) but it worked great!