Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

[klaw07]

I took apart my hubs to check bearings and replace seals. I was told by a couple of people you can get replacement seals at a local auto parts store. I took in my old seal 168255, and they look it up and come out with a seal that says it will work, the difference is the new one has a rubber seal on the outer surface of the seal. Meaning the surface that fits against the hub. Mine old one was just a smooth metal surface. I could see where rubber might seal better with hot and cold but when I looked up seals online they were like mine.

Anyone have any experience with this type of seal?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

Pictures would help. Without pictures, I think what you are looking at is the flat, back side of the seal. That surface is sometimes covered in a thin layer of rubber but has nothing to do with the actual sealing process. Once pressed into the hub the outer diameter can't leak. The lip (single and double lip seals are available) ride on the seal surface of the spindle. Just to make sure, the flat part of the seal faces out of the hub -- not in. You would not be the first person to remove a seal that had been installed backwards.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

That is the only type of seal I used until I went with Spindle lube axles. They work much better than your typical non-banded metal cased seal in your normal wheeling bearing applications and applications using Bearing Buddies.

I've had not so good luck when using them with spindle lube axles. The seal is only rated to a 10 psi differental. The presure required to push the grease throughout the spindle lube housing is too great and their is a tendency to push the seal out of the bore when filling the hub with grease.

For those that have never seen a seal like this, the OD of the metal case has "band" of rubber on the OD of the metal case which allows the seal to move insode the bore to compensate for eccentricity between the hub to the shaft.

http://www.skf.com/portal/skf/home/products?lang=en&maincatalogue=1&newlink=4_1_147

 

[klaw07]

Re: Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

dingbat, that sounds like the seal I have. My trailer is a tandem axle bass boat with bearing buddies. So if I understand you right, you are saying this is a bad application because when I use my grease gun to fill the bearing buddy I could risk bowing the seal out?

 

[1fishbone]

Re: Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

The rubber coated seals work better with bearing buddy type system.
I use them on my boat trailer spindles.

At the farm I work, some nit-wits will grease the spindles on farm equipment with an air grease gun and eventually blow out the seals! The all metal ones seem to pop out easily.
FYI I have drilled and installed grease fittings on the spindle caps.

I've ordered and installed the rubber type to eliminate this but to no avail, the nit-wits out smarted me! They don't understand a 'couple of squirts', they'll pump until the see grease squirt out the back!
The rubber ones hold in a little longer!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Different looking replacement wheel bering seals?

dingbat, that sounds like the seal I have. My trailer is a tandem axle bass boat with bearing buddies. So if I understand you right, you are saying this is a bad application because when I use my grease gun to fill the bearing buddy I could risk bowing the seal out?

The bearing buddies are setup to exhaust at 3 psi so those seals with work fine with them.