Wheel Bearing Seals

[greyeagle]

Just recently had some work done on my rig at one of the RV service centers in my area.

I asked them to pack the wheel bearings and pay particular attention to the street side wheels, since they appeared to be throwing a small amount of grease.



In speaking with the service tech that repacked the wheels, he indicated that he did not replace the bearing seals since the seals were in good shape.



I remember years ago when I worked in my dad's "filling station" that we always replaced the seals, no matter what, when we repacked the wheels. Back then it was almost impossible to get the seals out without ruining them.

I hope that I'm not being overly cautious, but something doesn't appear to be kosher.

Anyone care to comment.

[Lloyd]

I repacked the bearings on our 5er this spring. Replaced all 4 seals when I did it. If I remember right I blew the spring out of 2 of them when I drove the inner bearing out.
As far as I'm concerned replacing the seals should be standard procedure. It's not expensive, but sure is cheap insurance.

[Stan]

I agree, the seals should be replaced. I get the seals out but placing the spindle nut on the spindle, and then removing the hub. The nut catches on the inside bearing and pulls off the bearing and seal at the same time. This will generally remove the seal safely but I still replace them.

[cwit]

It sounds to me like a dealer was out of seals and to cheap to go get more. That being said when I packed my seals the ones I took out wewre double lipped and the only ones I could find were single lipped so I put my old ones back in. This was my choice on my camper not a customers.

[Chazworth]

There is a special set of tools just to remove and install seals without damaging them. No to terribly expensive. Its possible that he was telling the truth. I'm an industrial maintenance mechanic, I have a set in my toolbox made by SKF.

[greyeagle]

Question for Chazworth -

Are the newer seals made in the last five years are so, not susceptible to the hardening effect of the older seals made years ago.



It's my understanding that the seals will "harden", if the rig sits up for an extended period, thus allowing some grease to leak out and show up as thrown grease on the tire rim.

[Chazworth]

It all depends on the quality of the seal. Some of the newer seals use a teflon compound that is very resilient. But as with everything, cheaper = lower quality. You get what you pay for.

[Ridgeman]

Greyeagle, you said you thought your streetside wheels showed signs of throwing some grease. That tells me your seals were probably bad. Unless the grease was coming out the the outside of the wheel from an overfilled hub. In any case, Ithink you should always replace the seals when packing the bearingsEspecially with these trailer because of the damage grease can do to the brakes.

[greyeagle]

Thanks guys for your replies. To follow up and satisfy my doubts, I called four reputable RV dealers that have very active maintenance shops in the area.

Two indicated they did, change the seals without question. Two indicated that they had special tools to remove the seals and would reuse them if no apparent issues were at hand, such as ruined springs or evidence of leaking.



After that I called the owner of the facility where I had the work done. He indicated that if I had any doubt or reservations what so ever, that he would change the seals out at no charge, parts or labor.



I also indicated that we were headed for CO in about three weeks and that I sure didn't want or need any problems in the mountains. He indicated that he would not hesitate to take the coach anyplace at anytime and should something come up or the seals start leaking, he would pay for parts and labor, and or on-site repair where ever it happened.



He also indicated that he had discussed this with his "bearings guy" and the tech assured him there was absolutely no problems with the seals. He indicated his tech had been with him for over twelve years and had never had a problem with his work.



To assure me that he was on the up and up, he indicated that they removed all the old grease and replaced it with high temp red bearing grease. If any leaking began to occur, that the color would be red, rather than the standard dark grease color.



He did say, that the tech found that the hub nut covers appeared to be overfilled, either that or where someone had a small amount of excess grease, which they wiped off with their fingers and smeared it someplace where it shouldn't have been.



Thanks again, hope this brings this issue to a close.