When the hubs went out on my old 01 I just ended up taking a torch to them and cutting them out. took about five minutes of careful work and a small piece of sandpaper to smooth out the little bit of slag that dripped on it. Beat an hour of beating or power steering tricks since they were shot anyway.

 

How do you know they are worn out before you pull them off? I still have the other side to do.

 

If your ball joints were good you could jack the truck up and the tire will wiggle slightly when you push in on the top if they are bad. Mine were bad enough that they caused an ABS light to come on so that was pretty easy to figure out.

 

I finished the passanger side this past Saturday. With the power steering trick and a helping hand, the hub broke free in about 20 minutes. Ball joints went in and out with a breeze. Tips for others to follow. A sledge hammer is a must as well as a BFH!!! Have a LONG cheater bar handy and use a Sears 1/2 inch drive wrench incase it breaks. A dremel tool will really clean up the hub and nuckle. I poped both ball joints out with the ball joint tool cleaned up the yoke and greased up the holesand new ball joints. Used the tool for the bottom one and for the top one I used the sledge. Both went in with a breeze! If your hubs are good, no need to separate it from the axle. Neverseze and locktite are a must as well. Hope this helps everyone else.