Can Old Grease Seals Be Reused When Changing Trailer Bearings

Updated 07/21/2021 | Published 07/20/2021

Question:

Thanks for the quick reply on replacement bearings and seals. Will be purchasing The set this evening. The current seals in the hubs have less than 300 miles of use and have not been removed. I carefully removed the hub assemblies to clean and inspect the brakes and reinstalled. The seals are holding grease and appear to be in good shape. Do they need to be replaced? I lubed the back bearings with the EZ lube 10 strokes and hand packed the fronts. Bearings preloaded and castalated nuts set properly. Your thoughts?

asked by: Jeffery N

Helpful Expert Reply:

There are really two reasons to replace a grease seal, if they are damaged or worn and leaking grease then that is an obvious factor. If you are replacing bearings it is usually best to replace the grease seals as well because although they may still be in good shape, it's very hard to get them out without damage which is needed to change the inner bearing. If you can remove it without damage and it's still in good shape then by all means reuse. That said, I personally would not install new bearings and old seals as the old seals will then fail before the new bearings most likely and you'll be pulling the hubs apart sooner for more work.

If you do replace, you can either read the part number on the seal or measure it. I have attached our full selection below.

expert reply by: Conner L