IIRC, you said you have the flange. so you just remove that, and the bearing to get the stuff off the spindle. That is the rotor assembly and the lug portion.

Nope. The wheel hub does not have to be removed. The locking hub, flange or auto hub assembly has to be removed, but only to undo the c-clip on the end of the axle. After that is done, pop both BJ's, remove the caliper and swing the entire knuckle, spindle and rotor assembly out of the way. This way, the wheel bearings do not have to be messed with.

In the time spent discussing this, all 4 boots could have been replaced. Just do it. Do it right and do not use the split boots. Trust me, you do not want to do this job twice. It will just piss you off. I suggest separating the inner joint so you can replace the outer boot with it on the bench. Doing it on the truck is a bear, because it flops around a bunch. This will also give you a chance to position the new inner boot on the axle shaft for when you put it all back together.

Trust us. There are a lot of us who have done this many many times. It is no fun, but it is not that difficult. I promise you that we are not holding back some secret grease-free easy method of doing this. We are talking about $30 or so in boots and a weekend of your time for one side. The next time you do it, it will go faster.

Now, get out there and get greasy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Good Luck,
Michael