Thread: How long do your hub seals last?

After three years my left hand rear hub seal started to leak.

Due to the nature of the leak it was all over the disk shrowd, caliper and rotor.

Tonight I pulled it apart, it took a good dousing with degreaser and brake clean to get the oil off. For the most part the seal looked pretty good and so did the metal faces that the seal lip runs on.

I run oiled bearings but was using the FRC8221 seal. It has one springed lip and two wipers!

Now I know the seal to use is the RTC3511 the double lipped version and that is what is in the front but at the time of replacing my rotors there was a lot of discussion on the forum about what is the best seal to use and so I thought I would give the 8221 seal a go and whats more I didn't see the need to replace them when they weren't leaking or letting any water in.

So how long do you normally expect a hub seal to last?

Originally Posted by harro

I run oil lubed bearings as well and no leaks for at least 5 years.
Check your diff breathers if you haven't already, if these are blocked it tends to pressurise the axle housing pushing oil past the seals.

Cheers,
Paul.

Checked the breather and it was fine so would not expect it to be pressurised.