Does Trailer Hub Seal Need to Contact Side of Spindle

Updated 10/14/2025 | Published 10/11/2025

Question:

I purchased a CE Smith CE13110 hub for my 1” spindle boat trailer and while the bearings fit there’s very, very minor play between hub and spindle when castle nut and cotter pin are installed. But the grease seal does not snug up to the spindle. There’s a 1/8” to 1/16” gap. Is this normal? Should I order a new grease seal with smaller ID? To confuse matters more, the CE13110 bearings and grease seal match my old galvanized hubs, and I don’t recall those leaking. Finally, there was a pliant rubber band around the innermost part of the spindle that the old grease seal appears to have butted up against. Any help is much appreciated. Kanon

asked by: KDM

Trailer Hub
(click to enlarge)

Expert Reply:

Hey KDM, it's normal for there to be some space between outside portion of the grease seal and the spindle. The seal is not supposed to push up against the spindle on the outside portion of it. It's only really for sure supposed to contact the spindle where it rides on it. Have you tried installing it as-is and had any leak issues?

expert reply by: Jameson C

Kdm

10/14/2025

Hi Jameson, there’s no contact between the grease seal and spindle. I think I need a new grease seal with an I.D. that’s narrower by 1/8”. This was a fully greased hub so why would the grease seal’s ID be greater than the bearing’s ID? The old hub appeared to have the same difference, but there was a pliant rubber-ish material around the inside spindle that appeared to add an additional seal. It was torn so I removed it.

Jameson C.

10/14/2025

@Kdm I see what you mean now sorry for the confusion. I wish we had a grease seal that had a smaller inner diameter but what came with your hub is the seal we offer that is intended for the thinnest spindle.

Kdm

10/14/2025

@JamesonC Thanks for the quick response. I’ll see if I can figure out the issue. The hubs are fantastic btw. This isn’t a product issue, but a “me” issue. -KDM

Jameson C.

10/14/2025

@Kdm I once damaged a wheel bearing seal on my dirt bike and it ended up boring out the hub more so a standard replacement wasn't going to work so I was able to find a place on Amazon (sorry boss) that allowed me to sort through a huge listing of various grease seal dimensions till I found one that worked.