I concur, they usually don't just drop a race (because I don't think it can by design) or a ball bearing with no warning.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...l-bearing.html


4X4 bearing:

 

Agreed, there's usually plenty of warning. This time there was about 10 miles of city driving, 35 mph, from the first hint of a problem to the bearing dumping itself out on the ground. Not sure why, but something unusual must have happened to it.

 

Sounds like a fatiuge fracture then. Maybe a issue with a ball bearing or race cast issue or something.

 

Yeah, could be. This was the original hub assembly and it happened at about 155,000 miles, so I can't really blame it on "just got a bad one".

Wasn't an expensive repair, so I'm not too concerned about it, just found it a bit unusual. I concur with what others have said about usually having plenty of time before it leaves you stranded on the side of the road. Just threw it out there to let people no there's no guarantee, even if it's not the norm, it is possible for them to go "right now".