Wheel Bearing Grease Seals

[Bob_Roller]

Finally got my shim kit for the wheel bearings two days ago, only took seven weeks, U S Postal Service lost the first one, UPS delivered the second set to the wrong address three blocks south of me, took three weeks to get that straightened out !!!!!!!

Now on to my question, got the preload set, went to insert all of the parts into the wheel, had a bit of trouble getting the seals in straight .

Finally got them, now I can see that they are in too far, the inner is about .125 inches about 3 mm, the outer seal is about .188 inches, about 4 mm .

I think they are supposed to be flush with the wheel, now they are recessed, is this of any real concern ?

Also, how do you remove the seals without damaging them ?

Can't see any area where you can pry on them without destroying them .

If you replace the plastic centering spacers that go over the middle spacer, you may need to trim them down, mine wouldn't get past the bearing outer race .

[mimmo66]

Bob,
have you read Snowbum article on wheel bearing servicing yet?

I understand this is one of those tasks you want to get it right the
 first time, lots of expertise and heat needed to accomplish it.

I was fortunate to get my done at the shop and avoid frustations.

Will probably check it again in thirty years.

[Bob_Roller]

The heat part is not applicable to the R65, that is for earlier bikes .

They make it sound a lot more complicated than it needs to be, once I got all of the homemade tooling made up, it was only about 30 minutes of checking, my rear wheel on the '82 LS was correct, didn't need any adjustments  .

It's a different story, if you replaced the bearings and races .

[nhmaf]

BMW considers the grease seals to be a toss&replace item, so I think that you either have to live with what you've got, or order some more seals.   You *may* be able to remove them if you are very careful (And lucky).  Using some sort of hard PLASTIC tool may help - just don't use a screwdriver and end up gouging the alloy of the wheel hub to try to save a disposable grease seal.

I've also been told that ideally, the seals should be flush with the edge of the hub, but I don't think that it super critical - just allows for more grease space between the seal and the bearing's outer edge.  One doesn't want to have the seals NOT inserted far enough, as they aren't likely to do their job that way.

My $.02 anyhow.
-Mike

[Bob_Roller]

I think I'll proceed as it is, I know better when doing the next bike in a few weeks or so .

[Ed Miller]

Mine are usually in a bit from the edge.  I push them in until they stop.  That doesn't make it right, but driving in seals is a job that I'm still not good at.  I have a hard time getting them in square.  Anyway, they work.

[Bob_Roller]

Thanks Ed, now I'm not concerned about it at all .

Felt no appreciable increase in effort to rotate the wheel after the seal installation .