How long do your wheel seals last??

Stemco gritguard seals and 85-140 oil in the hub, very few failures.

 

I agree on the stemco seals, the grit guards, we used 50W in some and 75/85 in others. The old style leather seals lasted the longest, when I worked in Edmonton especially on trucks running north. Also if you let the oil run low they are done, Never seen a seal leak from being over full.
I know of guys that would pull the plug on the cover and drain out the oil about 1/2 the total and clean the magnet and refill. They did that every second oil change.
They had trucks that were very well maintained and made money, any amount of metal fillings on the plug and the wheel came off and the bearings were changed. A little metal and the plug was checked next oil change. Every thing done was written in a book that stayed with the truck.

 

Be sure and keep the breather vents clean and able to breath on drives, so the pressure from heat can escape and prevent blowing out the seals.

 

Im curious to see if there is a magic cure on this as well. I got one axle that eats seals, and im afraid im due for a new stub pretty quick!

 

Always verify correct bearing numbers and proper fit to the axle when having repeat unexplainable seal failures. I inherited one where a guy mistakenly installed a wrong inner cone bearing that didn't fit the axle properly (loose fit) although it was the mate for the bearing cup (race) for a different axle application. Three seal failures later, I was appointed to hunt it down. Incorrect inner bearings had been installed on both sides of one drive axle.

 

I have very few problems with the seals on my trailers, but it seems like I have more seals on the tractor drives go bad than I should. The guy that replaces the for me uses stemco seals and knows how to install them correctly.

 

Stemco and Lucas are a great combination. I change out the oil twice a year and almost never have hub seal problems. Takes about 90 minutes to change the hub oil and it's good insurance.

 

This is why I always spin the wheels and hit the tire with a sledge hammer as its going around and I hit hit top, bottom and sides.

WOW I'm still running on the same oil in my trailer hubs and its been 5 years!

My brother tried some Lucas stuff, think it was red, and it burnt his seal up in less than 400 miles. We are still scratching our heads on that one!

 

I hate to say anything for fear of jinxing myself, but in 12 yrs & 836K miles I've only replace 1 drive seal and the left front seal twice, right front seal once.

My trailer on the other hand, needed new seals every 2-3 yrs until I converted to grease packed bearings.