How do you install the inner bearing seal on the front hubs - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

triacon · #1 10-21-2010, 06:18 PM

I am trying to tap the inner seal in with a rubber hammer, going around it with light taps but can't seem to progress. It's grabbing in one area but as I move around, it pops out...

This work is being done on a 1985 300sd. Have new races and bearings. Do I need a press of some sort or can I cover the seal with wood and tap down with a heavier metal hammer?

snookwhaler · #2 10-21-2010, 06:37 PM

Grease it so it goes in easier and try a block of wood across the seal. Tap the block of wood with the hammer. Works for me every time.

vstech · #3 10-21-2010, 07:10 PM

I have a set of 3/4 drive sockets, works great for me. also, if you have a race install set, reverse the head, and it's a seal install set.

wrench56 · #4 10-21-2010, 08:22 PM

You can turn the old seal upside down and use that to drive the new seal in. Make sure you flatten out the old seal so it doesn't distort the new one. Of course nothing works as well as a seal driver kit and a press.
Wayne

triacon · #5 10-21-2010, 08:53 PM

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I did get them in by using a pc of wood and a heavy hammer. Greased up the wall of the seal as suggested. The rubber mallet was bouncing and shifting things. It did need more force to "press" in.

I packed the inner bearings with grease, then
I loaded up the hub cavity with 45 grams of grease. Borrowed a digital scale from work, placed the tube of grease on the scale and noted the weight (without the cap). Subtracted the 45g from it, on paper, and started squeezing grease into cavity. Re-weighed the tube until it was 45g minus original weight.

Did all the other necessary things to mate it to rotor and put it on the drivers side. as I pushed it on, grease came towards area where outer bearings go.
packed that back into cavity and after packing grease into outer bearing, I pushed the outer bearing into place.

At this point, I was observing a grease flow and wondering if I might have trouble some day because the outer bearing displaced some of the grease. Is there a method to this repair that would keep all that pre-weighed grease in between the two bearing sets? Perhaps 10g of grease is now around the nut rather than in the cavity with the rest of the pre-weighed grease....