wheel grease seals

Sport45 wrote:
Back in the day I would always reuse the seal when repacking front wheel bearings and I don't ever remember having one fail. I wasn't making much money then and if I could save $2.00 on a seal I would. Of course those bearings never had grease pumped into them after they were installed either.

After removing the outer thrust washer and bearing reinstall the spindle nut until the threads are fully engaged. Pull the drum/rotor catching the inner bearing on the spindle nut. The inner bearing and seal will be left hanging on the spindle ready to be cleaned and reused.

All that said, I throw away the old seals now. They're not worth the kerosene and time it takes to clean them. (But I'm substantially better off than I was back then too...)

I used to remove the inner bearings and seal the same way, but you do risk damaging the bearing. Like you, that was back in the day when saving $2 on the job was a big thing. I'd never do that now. I figure if I can afford a toy like a camper, I can invest the $2 in seals.

To OP: if you had grease on the brake shoes, you might want to consider replacing them. I had an axle seal start to leak on my old Blazer. I replaced the seal and cleaned the shoes thoroughly. They would be ok for a brief period of time but would start to fail after a while. Did this a couple of times before I replaced them (they were only a year old, which is why I tried to save them).

Are the original seals compatible with bearing buddies? I'm not sure how bb's work, but I'm familiar with the ez lube, and I would think special seals would be needed to take the pressure of pumping the grease in them.

Also, if you pumped that much grease in them you probably over greased them. Too much grease could cause the bearing to overheat. You might want to consider redoing the whole thing now, before taking any trips. Better to fix the issue at home than on the road.