Determining Correct Grease Seal and Axle Capacity on Vintage Trailer

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Question:

Hi, I recently aquired a utility trailer equipped with a vintage torsion coil spring suspension. I pulled the hubs apart and the bearings are in great condition I repacked with grease and reassembled. My question is on the rear of the hub. The hub seal is basically just a washer. Theres no rubber and a little grease worked its way out when I put everything back on. So the seal, which Im referring to as a washer because that is basically all it is, has a small gap between the washer and the spindle. Was this standard on these older axles/suspension types? I will attach some photos so you can see what I am referring to more specifically. The hub is 6 lug and the grease appeared to not be infiltrated by water. Should I replace these with regular seals? If so what do you need to find the right part? Also, if it makes sense, the seal that is on there now was just tapped back into place, but the depth is just decided based on how far you tap it in. I could have tapped it further. So there is room on either side. Im assuming if this was a standard feature these hubs must have been packed full of grease and greased often, since they werent completely sealed. This trailer is to be used as a utility trailer/hunting trip trailer. Im getting ready to do a 2400 mile round trip so any other extra advice would be appreciated. Also is there anyway to tell the weight rating on these old axles?

asked by: Anthony C

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Expert Reply:

The grease seal on your trailer should ideally sit snug on the spindle. You don't want it so tight that you cannot get it on, but there shouldn't really be a gap between it and the spindle, which can allow grease to escape (which you saw in action). What I recommend doing is measuring the spindle where the seal sits with a digital caliper like # PTW80157. This will give you the exact inner diameter grease seal that is needed for the particular spindles on your axle. It's possible that it is a bit worn and is in need of replacement or maybe even the wrong seal altogether.

I have attached a link that will take you to our available selection of grease seals that you can look through. You can filter them by their inner diameter by using the links on the left side of the page.

As far as finding the axle capacity on your trailer, there should hopefully be a sticker or plate located somewhere along the axle with this information. If you cannot find this, it also is sometimes printed on the trailer tongue. If you are unable to locate any information on the trailer itself, you can also get a pretty good idea of its capacity based on the bearing numbers. For example, a # L68149 inner bearing and # L44649 outer bearing will typically be used on 3,500 pound axles. I have attached an article on trailer bearings and seals that includes a bit more information on this that you might find helpful.

expert reply by: Chris R

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Determining Correct Grease Seal and Axle Capacity on Vintage Trailer

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