quick hub bearing seal/leak question

Renewing my n/s front bearing today, as i was taking it apart, it stank of ep90 and the grease had been replaced with gunky black ep90 smelling stuff. cleaned it all up and there doesnt seem to be much passing from the halfshaft through to the front, but the amount in the bearings suggests a leak from the axle casing/along the half shaft.

stub axle rear seal?

does the stub axle just slide off without the CV joint? from memory there is a seal behind it, but i cant remember fully :doh:

advice appreciated.

G

Depends on axle age. On older 10 splines the outer stub shaft just slids out of the CV but a snap ring retains the CV on the inner half shaft. There is an oil seal in the back of the swivel ball as well as the one on in the back of the hub. Does that help?

it helps confuse me Andy

its a 96 defender 90. I took it off for a look and there is a needle bearing which sits infront of a seal. I wasnt sure how to remove the bearing so i just put it back together and rebuilt the hub, packing the bearings in grease.

I did a bit of searching and there is conflicting advice on wether ep90 is detrimental to the hub bearings or not. some people actively remove the seal to allow ep90 into the bearings. It also seems the seal wears as the splines wear, I had a look around and its only this front n/s that has a leak. new bearings, new grease, will see how I go.

Ta

G

Griffdowg said:

it helps confuse me Andy

its a 96 defender 90. I took it off for a look and there is a needle bearing which sits infront of a seal.

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This bit has confused me

The only needle roller bearing that I can think of in the front hubs is the one in the swivel. There is a oil seal in there to keep grease in where the CV lives (assuming you are using one shot grease).

Anyhow, all sounds ok now

its in the rear of the stub axle bathing in ep90, behind it is the seal to prevent ep90 from traveling down the inside of the stub axle. maybe its not called a bearing, but the needles are about 15mm long and roll... like bearings. thrust bearing? i dunno. I gave up anyway and re ass embled it.

hopefully it will be ok.

G

andyb66 said:

Depends on axle age. On older 10 splines the outer stub shaft just slids out of the CV but a snap ring retains the CV on the inner half shaft. There is an oil seal in the back of the swivel ball as well as the one on in the back of the hub. Does that help?

Click to expand...

can i just butt in? the seal at the back of the swivel.. does it have to be stripped down to be replaced? ive read one shot can be usefull?

nathan5346 said:

the seal at the back of the swivel.. does it have to be stripped down to be replaced? ive read one shot can be usefull?

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Just to clear up confusion that I have probably created.....I was talking about the small seal inside the swivel where is attaches to the end of the axle casing. I think you may mean the large wiper seal on the outside of the swivel.

Assuming latter then......techincally yes you do have to strip it down to replace, but a popular bodge is to cut the new seal and put the cut at the top. It is behind a retaining plate and a little sealant will also help. This is obviously not as good as a full strip now. (pardon the expression )

As for one shot. There is lots of debate. Upside, the grease stays put and can't leak out, but water etc can still get in and without oil leaking out you have no indication that there is a leak anyway. Also the grease (and potentially) water/mud mix is going to be hard to remove, where as oil will just drain out. There is a third way and that is too mix oil and grease together. This still doesn't get over the draining problem.

It really is up to you. I fit whatever the customer wants; everyone has a good reason for choiceing that they choice and I am not in a position to disagree

Your right, i was,
so cut the seal and use oil then? maybe