whats wrong with my wheel bearings!

I have to empty the mud and retighten my wheel bearings every week or so, and they don't make it much further then that before they start making noises and become scary. As far as I know, if the inner seal's good and the seal on the hub is good, no water should get in. So whats going on, is it...


A. I use the chiesel approach to tighten them
B. I have a seal in there wrong allowing mud to enter (very possible)
-or-
C. There is no way to completly keep mud out of the hubs and bearings. You're suppose to empty them, service and repack everytime.

 

I'm going to vote for C. I think if you reverse the seal you'll sling all the wheel bearing grease out into your brakes. You might try using a better quality lip seal though. And water can enter through every part of the hub (if you have locking hubs) so each interface w/in the hub also needs to be properly sealed. Usually there's o-rings or something in there that you can replace. I bet someone on this board can recommend a grease that will work better in mud/water conditions too. I'm thinking some kind of HD marine grade grease....

 

Is your spindle all rusty and nasty where the seal is trying to ...seal? Also, what keeps water from running through the inside of the knuckle, through the I.D. of the spindle, into your hubs? Is there a seal inside the spindle that seals to the axle stub shaft? I can't remember! But if not, what keeps water from pumping straight through your spindle into your hubs?

Chilly

 

yes. it covers the torrington that the stub shaft rides in. it's a two-piece seal. the open end of the "v" faces out on the inner seal, which gets covered by a flat seal that seats in the recess on the end of the spindle.