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Question about rear wheel bearing seals

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Luke_Healey

Luke_Healey

Jedi Trainee
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This new-to-me Sprite was leaking gear oil out of both rear wheel hubs (the inner rubber seals were rock hard and both had cracks in them.) I installed both rear wheel bearing kits on either side of the Sprite tonight and got to wondering if/why 80/90 gear oil is allowed to hang out in the ball bearings? Why is it not isolated such that the bearings only use wheel bearing grease?
 
Hi Luke, I was surprised too when I discovered oil in the bearing hubs, with no apparent means of keeping the oil out of the greased bearings. I think I had two problems: I think I had a little too much oil in the differential, so a significant amount sloshed into the bearings, but I also had a leaky seal that was causing the oil to fling out onto the wheel hub.

I think some oil will eventually find its way into the bearings, and the gaskets are just supposed to keep the oil from migrating outside. One thing that was suggested to me that helps keep the oil inside is to use some gasket compound like Hylomar or Permatex #2 on the paper gasket. I was having a hard time keeping the oil in even with new seals, but the Permatex fixed it.



Hope this helps!
 
Those bearings are lubed with the rearend oil. hehe. no grease allowed.
 
Yeah, the rubber seal on the rear wheel hub is only sealing gear oil from going out onto the ground /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif The gear oil is free to circulate (and downright encouraged to do so) onto the wheel bearings.

And hopefully not onto the back of my wheels every night now!
 
Both Haynes and the workshop manual say to grease the bearings. I wouldn't rely on the gear oil alone.
 
The grease is just for the install so there is something in there till the oil from the differencial gets to them good.
 
I have always sprayed the paper gasket with Copper Coat and have never had one leak. The bearing seal is another issue. It is very important to have it perfectly square in the hub and to wipe some grease on it at assembly. I'm keeping my eye on one right now that I just replaced and it appears to have a small leak.
 
I have an issue with a bad squeak in the driver's rear wheel. I am wondering if it's the bearing.

I pulled that halfshaft and had no oil pouring out. Tonight I am going to check the differential and see if it's low or empty.

My question is, I just want the car to make it a few months - I'll be tearing it down over the winter to fully restore it. Would using some gasket sealer or RTV around the o-ring be OK temporarily? If so, what kind should I use? I didn't notice any leak, but it could have been there. I'd just like to ensure it's sealed up before I go filling the diff again (if indeed it is low).

Thanks!
 
As a Spridget racer, I never use the paper gasket, just the o-ring and balck RTV, but if you don't gear oil on the rear brakes, then that's not your problem anyway.
 
Any type of RTV would work to seal it. Just choose a kind that won't be a nightmare to pry apart. I'm not sure how much sticking power the blue stuff that I use on everything has.

My car had the original paper gaskets which were rice paper thin after all this time.. They were also a pain to scrape off with a razor. They were physically fused to the halfshafts and hubs.
 
""""""My car had the original paper gaskets which were rice paper thin after all this time.. """""""

and so should the replacement gaskets if you use them.....the 207 bearings end play and thus the hub end play is set by the thicknes of the gasket which is called out at .012".

Do NOT use a thicker gasket as supplied by Moss et al. You want only zero to .003" hub end play.
 
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