Grease seals bad on a trailer less than a year old?

[Skyco]

Every trailer I've ever owned (currently have 7) specs an NLGI #2 grease for wheel bearings..that is an industry "thickness/viscosity" spec. It is rather tough to even find anything else

As for nicked seal surfaces, there is a really neat product called SpindoSeal that has a really thin SS sleeve to fix bad sealing surfaces that won't clean up.

 

[Newblue]

I just never ends with this trailer. I cleaned the castle nuts and found that these were not cleaned up after the threads were cut. There were 1/8" long shavings hanging between the castle portion of the nut. About 30 to 40 on each nut. I was told "American Axle" was the brand on these but the drums and seals say TRP on them. It took me about an hour at work today to clean them up with a flat file.

Mike

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not sure if its one and the same but I did a little research on American Axle. They are partially owned by good old GM. They declared bankruptcy back in Sept 09 so that may be the story. It runs down hill as they say. When times got tough things tend to get cheapened up.

Chris

 

[Bird]

Thanks guys, no grease zerks on this and the bearings/grease looked and felt OK. The seal that came out was a double lip seal. The new ones are double lipped also. Carquest gave me an option of a cheap double lip seal at $8 each or the premium at $25 each. I went with the $8 ones. I did see/felt some nicks on the spindle where the seal rides. What would be the best way to clean this up?

Thanks again,
Mike

I guess it's been about 9 years since I bought any new grease seals myself, and then it was just for a boat trailer, but I never heard of seals that were that high priced.:shocked:

 

[Diamondpilot]

I guess it's been about 9 years since I bought any new grease seals myself, and then it was just for a boat trailer, but I never heard of seals that were that high priced.:shocked:

Same here. I install about 5 or so sets a year and never paid over $6 per seal.

Chris

 

[brokenot]

Buying seals at a local auto parts supplier often leads to a bit of "sticker shock".

We buy lots of stuff from our local CarQuest, but it's largely due to convenience, (rather than price), since they deliver. The dedicated bearing supply/power transmission dealer we also do business with offers a much larger selection....at about 2/3 of the price of the auto parts store.

You'll also have better luck at a bearing supplier if you walk through the door with a part that doesn't have a listed application, or an existing part number stamped on it. There might be one or two guys at an auto parts store that know how to use a caliper/micrometer, but at the bearing supply knowing how to do so is a prerequisite....