thanks y'all.

I did both of those, but the thing that did it was the angle of the socket extention.
Insted of going through the hub, I put the extension over the hub against the lip of the cuff and "lightly" tapped it (meaning I wailed on it). It finally came free and the new one is in!!!

WOO HOO!

__________________

Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT