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I now have all four wheel hubs off on my beetle in preparation for replacing brake components and re-packing the wheel bearings.
The rear drums are a little more work, because they're held on by big 36mm castlated nuts secured by cotter pins:
Those nuts are held on with 217 foot-pounds of torque, which makes them the toughest fastener to remove on the car except the "gland nut" that holds the flywheel on the crankshaft. To keep the hub from turning, I bought a steel bar that I braced against two studs that I threaded into the hub:
Here's the left rear brake assembly all taken apart:
Going around the car, I finally got the right front wheel and hub off. Shown here is the spindle of the right front wheel right after taking off the drum. The red gooky stuff is wheel bearing grease, which is what lubricates the wheels when they're turning.
I'm concerned about a channel that appears to have been worn on the shoulder at the base of the front right spindle:
I can't imagine what wore that. The inner race of the bearing doesn't even sit there. I think the only thin that rides there is the grease seal on the inner part of the drum. Here's the other spindle (on the left side) for comparison:
