I too have done this, but was too stupid to find it.
Did brakes on my old 85 Toyota pickup. A few days later the backend was clunking badly as I pulled into the apartments. I knew the pinion bearing was on it's way out, and assumed the noise was teeth being sheared off the ring/pinion.
Didn't drive it for 3 weeks while searching for a center section I could afford. Spent the better part of 2 hours digging a parts truck out of the snow that a buddy had (sat behind the barn, snow was drifted about 9-10 feet deep over it, made a little tunnel to the rear end).
Later on I found out the front wheel had come loose, and the horrible knocking/jerking was the cast ribs on the back of the wheel smacking the caliper.
Stupid stupid STUPID!
But hey, we all make mistakes....