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Hub Oil Seal... Did Some Not Have Them?

Discussion in 'Jeep Trailer Tech' started by DanStew, May 23, 2022.

  1. May 23, 2022
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
    Messages:
    4,585
    Working on my SPEN trailer. I want to repack the bearings but I am trying to find an oil seal for it. Finding the correct seal has been a maddening mix of endless seal searches and going between measurements.

    BUT is it possible early Trailers did not use seals? My SPEN seem very original. The Bearings are still Bower. When i popped the hub off, there was no seal in the hub. On the spindle there was a metal "shield" I tapped it off and it looks like the outer parts of a two piece oil seal. BUT the ID fit perfectly over the spindle as if it would never spin, and the outer had three ridges on the edge that if it was an oil seal, it would press into the hub. This metal disc is just small enough not to press in and have enough clearance not to touch the hub itself.

    Seeing how there is not much info for getting oil seals for this trailer.

    Is it safe to say they may not have used an oil seal, just this metal disc that would keep most of the grease inside? There was several decades of hardened grease on the outside of the hub and axle that I scraped off. So it has been like this for an extremely long time.
     
  2. May 23, 2022
    PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Hills of NH
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    Aug 3, 2003
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    9,754
    Seems doubtful to me. Seal technology goes back at least a century in common usage.

    Is it possible it was a leather seal, which were common?
     
  3. May 23, 2022
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
    Messages:
    4,585
    There are SPEN part numbers for a leather seal. I did actually order one and it did not fit. The current disc did look like it was a 2 piece, but the ID does not allow the disc to spin which is why i was thinking maybe there was not a seal originally.
     
  4. May 23, 2022
    PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Hills of NH
    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Messages:
    9,754
    Carefully list the measurements and call a supply house. They will find something.
     
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