Home   Forum   Classifieds   Tech/DIY   News   Articles   Chat   Contact Us

diagnosing front hub seal failure

Forum rules
Welcome to the Tech/DIY information archive. This area of the board is for reference purposes, please direct general tech discussion to the G Wagen Technical Forum.
User avatar
vadimivanovich
Posts: 8643

Re: diagnosing front hub seal failure

Post#11 » Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:31 pm

Christian, I have a used foam seal for you if you want it. It seems completely fine.

I bought all of my bearings online, all with their matching races of the same brand. Mixing & matching manufacturers "should" be okay but I don't trust that. I'm not sure what you have but sorry that it happened. I bought my seals from ET just because it's not worth the risk of a one-lipped failure. I doubt that was your problem though.

Guesses: An under-lubricated bearing would get hot and self-destruct, which was not the case here. An overly tight bearing would get hot but may not destruct thanks to good fresh grease. The grease might liquefy and find it's way out, though I'd expect the seal to hold anyway. If there was enough heat to raise the air pressure inside the hub to the point of blowing out a bit of grease, well... that seems pretty unbelievable, but maybe possible? It could only happen at the inner seal as the outer has the bearing cap, nuts and washer.

These things are so touchy, and a pain to get torqued with that stupid nut tool without it slipping out of the grooves. Then the bearing seating & clearance issue... not one of the most fun G repairs.

User avatar
Gelande
Posts: 5327

Re: diagnosing front hub seal failure

Post#12 » Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:19 pm

used foam seal is no problem to use, so I would take Vadim up on that

User avatar
syncro_G
Posts: 824

Re: diagnosing front hub seal failure

Post#13 » Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:44 pm

I took another look at my hub - I do have a foam seal after all! It was just soaked in grime and had the look of cast iron. But a quick poke confirmed it was actually a soft seal :)

I also picked up a new set of bearings at the supply shop. This batch is a mix of SKF and Timken (made in USA) parts. I brought in my hub and housing to test fit before walking out. The bearings on the hub are still in great shape so I plan to re-use what I have and just replace that one Brazilian race that's too tight.

The aftermarket seals I picked up don't look that great to me. I'm going to re-assemble with the new one I just picked up but I will also order an OEM outer seal to replace at a later date. I'll also look to see if I can find a TCM version with the right profile.

I'm going to add some comments to the bearing sticky thread regarding TCM and FAG products.

Return to “Tech: Driveline, Axle, Shafts, Bearings, Solve your Vibration Issues Here!”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 101 guests

cron