I think ya'll might have misunderstood. When I refered to pinion I meant solid axles- ie. 12bolt gm. I was able to get the axle out no prob- I had the knuckle off of the car- took to A-zone. Where I have the problem is removing the hub (part that has 5 bolts that holds tire on) from the knuckle.
This should be a good DIY thread
From what I've been able to research, ya need a hub puller, such as "OTC Hub Tamer", to pull it out. Then loosen 3 bolts behind hub plate to gain access to bearing. Press new bearing onto hub and reinstall. Am I on the right track here? If so I'll see if kragen or someone has a puller. My slide hammer didn't come with part I thought and a harmonic balancer puller is too narrow. Darn... have to buy more tools
lol great excuse for the Mrs.
On second note- I get different recommendations for axle nut torque. Is is 135lbs or 185lbs?
Thanks again everyone for your help- for you are helping all PT DIY people.