[Vwdiesel] Dasher diesel front wheel bearings & more

[William J Toensing]

I had a noise in my 1981 Dasher diesel that I spoke about earlier. When I removed the left driveshaft, the roller bearings fell out when I started pushing out the L front wheel bearing with my bearing puller/pusher. Before doing this, I could tell the bearing was bad, just by feel. I got the new bearing successfully a few days ago & today, was able to successfully reinstall a new left drive shaft assembly which I sourced from our local Grass Valley parts store, "Parts for Imports.  Cost was $80 plus tax & includes new inter & outer CV joints & new boots installed. Before I take the Dasher off the stands, I will recharge my A/C. Then I will put insurance back on the car, renew the license plates & see how well it does. Hopefully the right side is OK. If not, I know how to fix it now. Since I put the car up on stands a year ago, it hasn't had a fill of the new ultra low sulfur diesel yet but I plan to run it on biodiesel.
When I originally replaced the timing belt over a year ago, I did not touch the tension pulley. Should I replace it now or wait till it goes bad? If going bad, will it give any noise or signs of failure? 
I will probably have more questions as I go along.