The rubber in those bearings that I had was a hollow donut. There are a couple small air holes to allow it to flex. I would spin the bearing in that rubber piece before anything else went wrong. I've had a bearing try to die since in an RTV filled assembly and I was able to pry out the bearing itself, remove the sheet metal surrounds, and replace just the bearing. I forget the uniform part number, but at it's core it's just a typical sealed cartridge bearing available at most any bearing house. Was a whole lot less expensive to do that than to replace the whole assembly, and being that I was a broke college student at the time....
The stake nut isn't a big deal, an impact will pop it loose. The bearing is a sliding slip-fit to locational interference fit on the spud shaft, the nut and flange clamp it in place and keep the inner race from spinning on the shaft.
As to the no-load requirement in the FSM, I'm frankly baffled how that makes any difference at all. The bearing is on the front drive-shaft section, not the rear section. I loosely assemble the front section in place, then tighten the t/c flange bolts. THEN tighten the bearing support bolts. And finally install the rear shaft assembly. What the position of the suspension is would only matter during that last step.