JBarca wrote:
No I can't take credit for inventing that puller. I had the one in the pic for a long time. End up acquiring it for doing some work back when I was like 16. Which at this point, let's just say was a while ago... It is a inside/outside slide hammer puller. You can flip the jaws around and the cone on the bottom locks them. Mine is made by Proto. Searched them on the web and they still make it, just slightly updated.
Proto Gear Puller Set
Now why to be so careful when removing to replace. The ID of the seal is still messed up using the puller. However I did not scratch up the hub bore that the seal is pressed in. If you do not have a puller the options are sort of a screw drive with a hammer and dig and pry. Yeh it works, but if you have the puller, it is easier.
A long long long time ago an old mechanic (one of my mentors) in the automotive industry showed me a trick to popping out grease seals that I still use today. Most of the time the seal comes out undamaged and can be reused using this method, although it takes a little practice to get that good.
After you pull the outer nut, washer and bearing, but before you remove the drum. Simply thread ONLY the nut back on to the spindle a few turns. As you slide the drum off, hook the inside edge of the seal against the back of the nut and give the drum a sharp pull. The grease seal (and usually the inner bearing) will be left dangling on the spindle behind the nut.
I know it sounds like it shouldn't work, and that it might even damage a bearing or race in the process, but it doesn't. Like I said, most of the time the grease seal comes out so gently it can be cleaned and reused. I've been doing my bearings this way for about 15 years. Never replaced a wheelbearing yet. And the only grease seals I've ever replaced were due to age, not damage from removal. That includes not only the trailers, but also the FWD vehicles I had with rear drum brakes.
-Jimmy
