Thread: Front wheel bearing dust seal

Hey guys how's it going? Yesterday I decided to take my steering knuckle and wheel bearing parts to a mechanic. He said that he ran into a problem with the outer dust seal. He told me that it was too small? Are the seals suppose to be tight on the knuckle? I went to O'Reilly auto parts and picked up a new $20 dust seal. Turns out it was the same size as my auto zone part.

So he said he would try and make it fit tighter, but all he did was managed to bend the hell out of it and ruin it. I wasted $20 bucks for nothing and he ended up using the (auto zone) dust seal I originally brought in. He did put it all together for me for only $40 bucks. Another thing, is the new bearing suppose to feel tight? It doesn't spin freely at all. There's no play in it like the old bearing though. So that's good I guess. What do you guys think?

by the dust seal do u mean the rubber ring tht goes over the bearing? if u have the wheel off the ground and u push on the 10 o'clock position there should not be any play what so ever. do it in the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock position as well

New bearing will be a bit stiff when new.

Sounds like you keep getting the wrong dust seal?

Yes the dust seal that goes over the bearing. The one that is under the hub. It's all put together in the knuckle right now. No play at all, feels super tight though. Hope that's normal. I'll be putting it on the car tomorrow.

yeah your good than. i removed my brake dust shield when i replaced my bearings, it looks so clean, but obviously my wheels got dirtier lmao

Maybe. I hope the one I have in there is ok. It's not a snug fit, but it's on there.
The inner seal was a tight fit though. Autozone seal is a Timken, O'reillys seal is a Moog brand. Both had the same part numbers? Strange.

As long as it looks like it will stay in place, and keep dust out of the bearing, then you should be in good shape yah? =]

That's what i'm hoping for.
I got it in. But of course I had to fu*k something else up. I managed to mess up the threads on the tie rod. So now I need to buy a new tie rod end. Do you know what size wrench I need to remove it? My biggest box wrench is 15 mm and it doesn't fit. I'm thinking it's a 16 or 17 mm.

OEM seals FTW, as long as it says in place and KEEPS the grease in the bearing and KEEPS the dirt/dust/rocks/small children and animals OUT of the bearing then you're good.

Here's another question. How do I remove the tie rod? How do I loosen it?