I'm trying to take the hub off to inspect the inner bearing but I can't seem to get the damn thing to budge. The outer bearing came off with an excessive amount of force. Should this thing just slide off now or am I missing something?

 

I just did this last night. What I did was use a hammer to hit the nut until it popped off the half axle. It helps if you are pulling on the hub while hitting it.

 

what nut are you talking about?

 

From the picture it looks like the front. Every front hub I've taken apart comes right off after taking the nut off.

 

time to pull like med then, eh?

 

Have you seen this write-up by Mazdatrix?

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/frontbrg.htm

 

That's what I'm trying to do The damn hub just doesn't want to come off.

 

I think it's just siezed tightly.

Do you have a gear puller? Alternatively, you can pull on one side of the hub, while tapping (not hard) on the back of the other side with a hammer. Or do what AsianCaucasion suggested: put the retaining nut back on the axle loosely, and pull on the hub while tapping on the nut with the hammer. The combination of the pulling pressure and vibration will often break stubborn parts free of one another. Finally, heat sometimes helps.

 

thanks for the pointers, I'll give it a shot next time I'm home during daylight hours