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Replacing REAR HUB SEALS - RA-101-20

Because the seal is in a blind hole, there's no place to pull or push on it to get it out. I put the tip of a thin flat blade screwdriver on the joint between the face of the seal and the housing, tap it into the joint and pry the seal down and out of the housing. When installing the new seal, put the flat side of the seal upwards in this picture, that is, towards the inside end of the rotating hub.

You will also find that the new seal is a little narrower than the depth of the counterbore that it goes into inside of the hub. The seal needs to be fitted all the way down into the bore until it fits face to face with the bottom of the hole. This is a problem because the back edge of the seal is quite narrow and rubber coated, so it's not a good place to poke around with a punch.

Lacking a good seal driver of that size, I found that the bottom end of an aerosol paint can was about the right diameter to do the job. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a driver tool, but I did get it to work in a pinch. If you do use a paint can for this purpose, be sure that it's empty, that all of the pressure has been released, that you remove the spray nozzle, and that you punch a hole in the can to ventilate it. These cans are pretty flimsy and do not take well to a pounding with a hammer.
Removing the seal

At 10:16 PM 1/6/2007 -0500, Charles Jackson adds these tips:
If the bearing is as impossible to insert in the hub as was mine,
  • Use a 3” pipe flange as a tool to press the bearing into the hub. It provides a ‘perfect’ fit over the outer race of the bearing.
  • Don’t go crazy trying to get the bearing seated all the way down to the oil seal. It won’t go. I didn’t realize this until I put a disk wheel bearing spacer next to the bearing and realized the bearing was fully seated because the spaced was even with the lip of the hub.
  • The bearing will go in a lot easier if you freeze the bearing over night while leaving a light bulb on the hub.
  • When putting the hub on the axel carrier, the 3” pipe flange is fine to start the bearing on the axel carrier, but first use a bearing spacer until you get the bearing a bit over the axel carrier threads, otherwise, you might hit the axel carrier's threads. Then switch to something like a 1 ½ socket to finish the job.

    Addendum July 23, 2018:
    Original factory issue oil seals were single lip design. You can use Timken National/ MOOG/ Federal Mogul double lip oil seals. They are part number 473241. They may ride on the axle shaft in a slightly different location than the original seals, which may negate the need for a Speedy-Sleeve. They should be available from any local auto parts store (may be next day order) or from any bearing supply house.

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