Wheel seal help

[David Anderson]

I replaced my bogie seals 3 years ago.  The curbside seal failed on our trip.  I pulled everything off and bought a new National seal NAT370001A.

I pressed the seal in but it does not look like it is all the way down.  All the ones I have seen on Youtube they get the seal below the hub flange.  I tried pressing mine it with a steel plate and a bottle jack and what you see is as far as it goes.  The bearing is still free and loose below the seal.  I will not beat on it with a hammer and I don't have a seal installer tool.  The failed one I removed was in the same position. 

My spindle dialed out consistently round with the calipers.  No burrs or pits were found on it.  I failed to measure endplay before removal, but it felt normal to me when I began to pull parts off.   

What is going on here?  I want to do this correctly before I put it on.

Help.  I don't want this to fail again.

David

[tr206]

Hey Dave: your bearing shouldn't touch the seal the seal looks like it's almost flush with bearing sitting in the race. It looks to me in the picture it should be good. You can measure from the bearing to the outside the seal and that's wear it will rest on the spindle and as far as end play you shouldn't have any you should perload your bearings you want to tighten the bearings fairly tight then spin the hub 3 or 4 revolutions snug it again turn it 3 or 4 time again this seats the bearings on the spindle then back it off til the nut is just starts to free then snug it down until you have a little drag not a lot some guys will use a torque wrench and give it 25 to 30 foot pounds but I like to do it by feel. Hope this helps.
I was thinking too that seal may just be a different design then your use to That seal turns inside itself instead of spinning on the spindle seal surface?

Here I just found a video kind of the same way I do them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa48Ed_ikB0

[David Anderson]

The bearing is not touching the seal which is the way it's supposed to be. 

However,  No video or picture I've seen has any portion of the seal structure outside the plane of the hub end.  In that configuration when I torque the nut down I believe I am actually compressing the inner and outer portion of the seal against the back of the spindle, seating it against the back of the spindle.  The outer portion of the seal should spin against the stationary inner portion as the wheel turns.  I think the whole seal assembly is jammed up against the back wall of the spindle assembly causing failure.  I think that is why it was so shiny and clean. 

I don't believe that when this is torqued that the back bearing is actually being compressed against the spindle shoulder.

I'm going to do some measuring of the bearing distance tomorrow.  This just does not look right to me.

David

[tr206]

I understand more clearly. Are you sure that is the right seal? if so does the box number match the number on the seal it happens?  Also try taking a mirror and look between the bearing and seal to see if the seal is seated in the hub if it is seated it's got to be the wrong one.

[chessie4905]

Is the bearing cup fully seated into hub? Or, factory seal might not be as thick.

[David Anderson]

I measured the distance from the bearing to the lip of the seal-9/16""
From the shoulder of the spindle to the back wall of the spindle-3/4"

So, the seal is not jammed against the back of the spindle.  I guess it is just thicker than the original.  I installed, preloaded the bearing and the rest of the installation procedure and called it a day.

My only regret is that I don't know why the first one failed.  I will keep an eye on both wheels to see what happens.

David

[tr206]

In regards to regrets my guess Dave is poor quality parts (China) I see it all the time name brand is almost meaningless these days it's hard to find quality. Even made in U.S.A. may mean assembled with foreign parts or materials. Anyway good luck.

[chessie4905]

There are a many seals with same id and od, only differing on thickness and design of sealing lip. There is also a difference in design of a grease seal compared to an oil seal.

[rancher]

David  If you have trouble with the seal leaking again I would try a CR brand of seal I have had better luck with them over the years compare to National.

[luvrbus]

Check the run out (end play) Eagle called for no more than 0.005,I use 0.002.Tighten the spindle nut to 200 ft lbs to seat the bearing back it off till the wheel spins with a little drag and it will be close to the limits or you can use a dial indicator.Check for out of round on the hub where the seal seats Eagles can bend easy with a miss lick from a hammer ,lol don't ask how I know that