[37plymouth]

Hey, pt102! The vacation was great! As far as the puller/press issues go, 95% of the time, someone is paying me to do the job. Since I don't know if they've hit a curb or the like hard enough to bend the hub, or had someone down at the local tire shop overtighten the lug nuts enough to stretch and weaken them etc., I won't even mess around with just trying to replace the bearing. It comes down to the customer's safety, bringbacks, my time, and reputation. Also, for the DIY'er, a hub/bearing assembly will usually come with a warranty where a bearing alone will not.
All of this comes down to personal preference, time, and money.
Someone else mentioned removing the lower ball joint-to-knuckle pinch bolt. That works out really well if you also take the swaybar links loose (much easier to pry the lower control arm down), and, as you pull out on the lower portion of the knuckle, you tap on the end of the axle with a deadblow or other soft face hammer. The reason for this is twofold, first is to avoid pulling apart the c.v. joints, and second is to make sure that the axle stays seated properly in the transmission as you pull the axle out of the splined portion of the hub/bearing. Hope this helps.