ClayBob

Hello,
I just purchased an '01 3500, 4x4, CTD, DRW for (what I feel) is a decent price. Thanks for all your help and education already. I LOVE this truck and can't wait to pull with it. Problem is - it drives like crap - wanders all over the road like its got a mind of its own. The ball joints have execssive up and down play and a bit of side play. The trac bar the same. I'm a 'fix it all at the same time' guy so I got all the stuff (ball joints, tie rod ends, trac bar, etc). Ive down this work many times on ther vehicles so didn't expect any huge problems - ha! Whoa, big stuff. I've been at dissasembly now for a couple of hours three nights straight. The only thing that came off easy was the wheels! I used a dead blow for the spacers, a BFH on the sacrifical rotors and am now staring at a very stuck hub! Of course, all the steering linkage is off so the frame trick probably ain't gonna cut it.

If I've done my research correctly (again, thanks for this awesome site) I need to remove the bearing and hub as one unit (if possible) - right?

If I manage to split the bearing halves then I get to buy a new hub - no bearing replacment available and not rebuildable) - right?

I saw a thread from a guy that seperates his and re greases every 50K or so. Is this normal?

Can I use a puller which pushes on the axle or will it force the axle against the pinion pin and cause (more) damage?

If I need to but two hubs am I better off looking at the hub conversion or is it really pricey?

Thanks for your help