how do i go about removing the rear bearing seal on the front hubs?

 

jam a long flat headed screwdriver between the back of the outer race and the seal and pry it out (assuming you don't have a seal puller). You should be nowhere near any bearing riding surface. Tap the new one back later, ensuring it goes in evenly to the same depth.

 

ok, thats what i thought... but had to ask to be sure...

also... when the seal is back in place, should the bearing have a little movement in it? or should it be snug? (its has some movement in it right now)

 

hmm... what does a seal puller look like?

like this:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

or this:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

also... after i pull the old seals... clean, inspect, and re-pack the bearings... how do i reset the new seal?

 

this is what mine looks like


By btlfedgolf at 2007-07-03

 

looks like ill be heading to sears later...

 

Nice little trick I learned:

With the hub on the car, you can take the nut off, then take off the outer race. Leave the hub on the spindle. Put the nut/washer back on loosely, tilt the hub ~45 degrees, then abruptly pull it off. The inner race will knock out the seal from inside and the seal will be re-usable.

 

My daddy taught me this.

 

yeah i learned that trick repacking wheel bearings on a 92 Safari Van Once..

 

one of the guys at the shop recommended that... wasnt too sure about it... but now ill give it a try...

 

The bearing will have a little movement - install the seal in the same position and with the same side facing the bearing.

 

sorry to bring back this super old thread of mine, i figured making a new one would just be a waste...

but anyways... with out using the car... couldnt i use that same method using a socket and an extension? know what im saying?

 

I don't see why not... but you could always pry the seal out and just buy new ones too. Oh, and when I said the inner race will knock out the seal, I was wrong. It is the inner bearing that you use to knock out the seal. The race itself is a PITA to move at all. This may also only apply to the front hubs. I'd take a look to see if the trick would work, then if it won't check the FSM.

 

that i kinda figured out... while reading the DIY on mazdatrix's website. i would also just remove the seals at any cost... but with money being super tight right now... anything i can do to reuse the seals would be for the best...

ive already read pretty much the entire fsm... i dont recall reading anything about front bearing removal... but ill look again just to be sure...

another thing i wanted to ask... i cant really afford a bearing packer... so is there any techniques to backing a bearing by hand?

 

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/frontbrg.htm

 

what did i mention in my last post?

besides... thats more for the race removal... i just need the inner seal removed

 

Just work the grease into the bearing really well.

I'm a little confused about what your goal is. What exactly have you done? What are you trying to do?

 

+1 works better than any puller ive used

 

ill give you the full story...

the donor car where i got my 5-lug swap had to have been a field car or sat for a very long time the way the discs and calipers looked... once i had all the new parts, i ended up having to have the front brake discs pressed/broken off the hubs cause of all the build up... after the shop removed the discs from the hubs, they cleaned out and washed all the grease out of the hubs to remove the debris... thats why i need to pull the bearing out... to repack it...

 

well that was quite painless... took me less than 5 minutes to knock both seals out with an extension and a socket...

what can i use to clean the leftover grease on the bearing? brake cleaner?

 

...and you don't have an empty spindle?

I would do something like put a threaded rod in a vice and thread on a nut and washer the same size as the axle nut and proceed like usual. Maybe wrap the rod in duct tape to protect the seal from the sharp threads on the rod. You get the idea.

 

i already got them out... ???

and i do have an empty spindle... theyre just across town...

 

Oh, you posted before I finished writing.