First, I would by a repair manual - My first Jeep was a 48 CJ2A and in order to remove the rear axle and hub bearing assembly I had to open the rear differential and remove a clip from the axle shaft as I recall - now that was a long time ago so my memory is not so good - perhaps you could check on other forums?

Richard - 08 JK, 2.5" OME lift, nitrocharged shocks, Rugged Ridge front bumper with M8000 winch, JKS QDs - Olympic 221 rock sliders and rear rock crawler bumper, upper adj control arms f/r, JKS adj track bars f/r