On some vehicles, the stub shaft gets tightened up against the unit bearing, holding it together.
On my 2500 Chevy, I had a CV joint fail, so I just pulled the axle and drove home. I was in Ely Nevada when I pulled the shaft. The guy at Napa there, where I tried to but a spare, told me not to drive without it. I had done so before in several other rigs with no issue, so I ignored him. He didn't say why, and his attitude was condescending, not helpful, so
I made it to SoCal, and at 75 on the freeway the unit bearing came apart and the tire, wheel, hub assembly pulled off and went into oncoming traffic. I was lucky it didn't kill someone.
Plus it is Mr Toads wild ride when you loose a 35" tire at speed and drop to the A arm.
I heard one small noise for about 3 seconds while leaving a stop a few miles before it happened, but it went away, and I couldn't tell where it came from. Then, I had about 3 seconds when the bearing failed. It pulled hard left, then the brake caliper, which was the last thing holding it together, broke and I watched the tire roll off on it's own.
I share this because I don't want someone else to have to go through this.