Ok, finally got time to pull the hub apart. whew. Though not as complicated as tearing into a gearbox, it was a bit of a struggle since I don't have any specialized tools for this sort of job.
1. after removing brakes and rotor, I tested play on the hub. WIS says you should see .02mm of axial play. This hub is very tight. no play at all...
- test play with a dial indicator
2. On disassembly, I couldn't get the hub off of the CV spindle. My claw pullers weren't up for the task. I thought the hub was supposed to slide right out. So instead, I pulled the knuckle housing out along with half shaft.
3. Once off the truck, it wasn't too hard to beat the shaft out of the hub with a rubber mallet.
4. Hub was still not coming free from the knuckle housing! I set the housing up on wood blocks with the hub flange face down. then used a matching socket and rubber mallet to beat the hub out of the bearings. That took a little while. The inner bearing's inner race had a very tight grip on the hub!
5. outer seal had obvious signs that grease ran out. However, the seal looks pretty good (it's only a week old!) It's not exactly seated level. one side is maybe half a millimeter higher than the other. could that be the cause?
6. cleaned everything up. an old plastic spatula works great for wiping out the old grease.
7. Here are the parts after cleanup. no signs of heat or wear really.
- hub spindle
- knuckle housing
- cv joint
the CV joint is in great shape and all parts except the knuckle housing are fairly new. hub is a few months old (under 7,000 miles), seals and bearings just a week old with less than 200 miles on them.