Houston, we have a problem.
Grabbed the good driver's side hub nut assembly at PnP yesterday, $4.97 including yard access fee. The counter guy confirmed their online price of $30 for the class V hitch on the same truck is accurate. Of course the wheel-stands that hold the truck off the ground is holding the truck up by the hitch, but that is a riddle to be solved another day.
No worries about yesterday, typ4; I'll go the HF chisel/cutoff route. If nothing else I get more tools for later shenanigans.
Assuming I can source the missing bearing components locally I
should be able to test drive this weekend... though I'll want to open/inspect the front bearings as well before doing so just in case and at minimum repack those. Hopefully more updates tonight/tomorrow.
++UPDATE++
Got the air chisel and cutoff wheel at Harbor Freight, turns out thoroughly cooked bearings do not stand up to a cutting wheel much at all. Or a Dremel wheel, which only takes 2-3 to cut a decent groove in a bearing with, likely only 1-2 if you don't set the dremel down and snap at least one in half on the concrete with each bearing...
More or less went like you'd expect: cut, chisel, repeat until the bearing cracked (chisel was significantly wider than the groove and tapered (when I started). Once the bearing cracked, hammer a flat-blade into the crack parallel to the axle (avoid contact with the axle) to spread the bearing to a slightly larger OD, work it off the axle. Worked awesome on the rear bearing. Front bearing not so much...
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I'll take Spun Bearing for $1000, Alex.
Outer bearing has clearly done some hot laps and galled the crap out of the seating surface before it came apart. The inner bearing was clearly hot and dry, but during my initial attempt to split it the chisel made it rotate on an errant hammer swing, so no 'adhesion' like the outer bearing. I had to get creative with a small puller and a VW axle nut whacker to pull the outer bearing because the rear half was partially fused with the axle.
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So unless I'm mistaken, I need to come up with a DRW Axle tube/housing. Fortunately, the local pick n pull has one, but it means I'm back in the ring & pinion game (theirs still has a cover on it and I'm hesitant to trust that setup for a 1200 mile round trip) and would be swapping everything over from my current unit as theirs is completely bare on the passenger side and I yanked the axle out of the driver side just a couple days ago.
Anyone see reason to believe otherwise?