There are no front wheel bearing grease seals on my 1961 C10. The hub, spindle, brakes, wheels are original. I ordered/received part no. 73-112 (grease seal front) from ClassicParts.com several years ago. Just now trying to install. The seal fits on the spindle perfect. However, when re-installing the hub, the inner bearing does not fit inside the new grease seal, and so the inner bearing will not seat onto the race. I ordered their inner bearings as well, part no. 73-012. That bearing also does not fit inside the seal. Anyone else have this issue? Is there a source for grease seals that fit over the bearing? The outer diameter of the OEM inner bearing is 2.9745 inch. The inner diameter of 73-112 is only 2.8865 inch.
The inner race should fit in the hub far enough to allow the seal to also fit in the hub .the seal seals against the back of the spindle.Unless I misunderstood something it should be like this.
Bearings go in first, well grease packed. Seal goes on last then assembly is installed over the spindle. Check the bearings first to make sure they fit the spindle. Good luck.
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
Yes, the inner bearings are original ball bearings. Pictures attached. My maintenance records indicate new seals were installed in about 1985. However, there are no grease seals present. So, I must have taken it to a shop for that work, and they just removed the original seals. Anyhow, these 73-112 seals from classicparts.com (made in Taiwan) do not permit the inner bearing (pressed into the hub) to seat against the race that slides onto the spindle.
Your middle picture shows a seal is that the new one your spindle looks like it may have part of the bearing on it as it looks tapered like the race part. I also don’t see the inner race part in the middle picture just see the cage with the bearings .the original bearings look like they come in 3 pieces .here are some pictures .
I'll be gone for a few days but I have a couple Ball bearing hubs in the shop w/ bearings & seal in them. Can take a look at seal p/n if you haven't got it figured out by then.
BC 1960 Chevy C10 driver 261 T5 4.10 dana 44 power loc 1949 GMC 250 project in waiting 1960 C60 pasture art Retired GM dealer tech. 1980 - 2022
Thanks for the input everyone. The spindle is tapered to fit the taper on the inner race, and the photos do not show the inner race. Kevinski says my middle picture shows a seal installed. I think he is right. However, that seal does not have either a felt or neoprene gasket sealing to the inner race. Part 73-112 has a neoprene sealing gasket, and I think the original had a felt gasket. Also, if that is the grease seal, then it does press fit over the outer race of the inner bearing, However, that is not the case for parts 73-112 and 73-012. Also, it looks like to replace the seal, the original seal is destroyed upon removal. So, I am not about to do that when I have little faith that 73-112 will fit over the outer bearing race. Is there something I don't understand about how these get assembled? How is a part only 2.8865 inch in diameter going to be fit over a part 2.9745 inch in diameter?
I think the seal is correct has the number on the old one as well as the new seal has number it replaces.to take the inner bearing and seal out here is a y tube video that shows the way I have done them and it rarely damages the seal in case you want to reuse the seal temporarily once you got it apart you can check the fit of your parts and look at the condition of the old bearings.
