Please help me diagnose my mechanical problem and if you know, please fill me in on what type of work needs to be done and what tools it will required.

My rear wheel has side to side movement, or "play" in it. I can kind of rattle it back and forth with my hand. The axle is snug in the dropouts and it doesn't move drastically, but kind of shakes back and forth when I move it with my hand. (I can manually rattle it a bit.)

I'm thinking something needs to be tightened or the bearings need to be worked on? Hubs are sealed cartridge bearings.

Thanks.

The axel itself is probably loose. Take the wheel off the frame, and see if you can wiggle the axle around.. if so, break out the cone wrenches, or take it to the LBS

what derek said. overly lose cones for sure.

Thank you Derek and 128. Much obliged. Never adjusted cones, but I think it is time to learn. I have a general bicycle maintenance book and will borrow some tools. Is this a job that someone with good mechanical skill can do? I'd rather do it myself than rely on the shop.

It's literally tightening one nut against another.. a baby could do it

Okay, thanks Derek. I think I should be able to handle it

For help look at:

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=105

[Edit: should learn to read, cartridge bearing hubs are trickier. A lot depends on what hubs you have, but you may just need to press in new bearings (pretty simple for most hubs, but if you've never done it before, then your LBS is your best bet.]

Yup. You can also read up on it over at sheldonbrown.com

Don't just adjust it. Take it apart, clean, and reassemble with new grease (you have grease, right?). Take a good look at the stuff inside to see if it's worn.

Since it is a cartridge bearing hub, there's not really anything inside. Just adjust it. If it doesn't turn smoothly without wobbling (being horribly loose), then you need new bearings. But that's probably not the case, those things last forever.

Haha, I thought it was loose. Didn't read that part. It may or may not have cones then... And adjusting them may or may not help. Worst case scenario:time for new cartridges.