Gumby22

Agreed 100% - at work, part of our standard service is to inspect the steering and suspension during oil changes. It only takes a couple minutes to rock the tires up/down and side to side while they’re on the hoist - we catch several loose wheel bearings and other worn components during those inspections.

As to the OP’s issue (and recognizing the original post is several years old) - you can see in one photo that the end of the axle shaft is snapped off - that’s the reason why the bearing separated. The wheel bearing designs for that era truck were tapered and relied on accurate torque of the axle shaft nut to hold the bearing and races together. With the end of the axle shaft and nut gone, there was nothing to keep the bearing together and it separated.

The cause of the axle shaft breaking off could have been due to inaccurate torque from a previous repair or wheel bearing play (the OP mentioned bearing noise prior to failure).

I only know this because, in my pre-professional days, I once replaced a wheel bearing on a 2004 suburban with the help of a friend. What we both failed to notice at the time was that the end of the axle shaft was snapped off, just like in the OP’s photo, and when we took it for a test drive, we made it about 3 blocks before the bearing separated and the front right corner dropped without warning. All praise be to God as There weren’t any serious injuries or insurance claims to be filed despite this happening on a very busy street, but I’ll never forget that so long as my mind doesn’t separate due to broken axles either.