Technical Rear Wheel Seals

I have forgotten much lately (at 76) but rely heavily on a good friend that also has classic car shop.
I had him do my annual oil/grease/fluids/etc check this week on my '63 Biscayne.
He called me and told my the rear wheel seals were just starting to leak...to which I told him go ahead and change them.
Paid for it yesterday and was kinda surprised that he also changed the rear wheel bearings...
He told me it is pretty much necessary to do this..
I have no objection, just curious...
Thanks much.

 

You got a good mechanic taking care of your car. He did right.

 

I bet you are talking about rear axle shaft seals

 

Worn bearings are usually the first thing to start seal wear. Your friend did the right thing by replacing them.

 

Um...the "wheels" have...seals..?
Where have I been, I didn't even know that wheels HAD...seals.

Mike

 

Thanks much,
Pretty much what I remembered from years back...
Sad that I can no longer do this stuff myself..but hey, I still can enjoy driving it

 

Axle shaft seals on passenger car rear axles and wheel hub oil seals on full floating rear axles.


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The seals are part of the wheel bearing assembly on those cars. So yeah, he had to change the bearings to replace the seals.

 

Jim, I just looked on Rock Auto, it looks like the seal is part of the bearing? Does the bearing press on to the axle shaft, like a Ford 9 inch?


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The seal is part of the bearing. The bearing is pressed on the axle shaft.

64 was the last year of that in most Chevy cars.

 

Yep Yep...I didn't realize they were pressed on...
My friend told me that yesterday when I was harassing him about my wife saying she was sick of him taking vacations on us.. lol
It is ongoing every time I do something to my Biscayne.....

 

We all have to “pay to play “ wether we do it all ourselves or have some one else doing it. Roll on and enjoy .

 

I put one new bearing on today before realizing the two bearing sides are different. One side has a seal with an external spring on the inside race, the other side has a flat seal with no spring. Which way do the go?

Bet I got it wrong...

 

The seal is to keep the gear oil out of the wheel bearing, which has grease in it. So....seal in....right?

 

Yep sounds good. And the other side probably has an internal spring to keep the grease in, and out of the brakes. Thanks. I would have figured this out on my own if I was't exhausted from getting the old bearings off, what a pain.

First time I've dealt with sealed rear axle bearings. All I've done just just use the rear end lube. Why sealed bearings?

 

The grease follows the axle to the outside of the housing. By turning the grease gets to the axle bearing then it can leak as the bearing wears

 

Hopefully not hijacking here, taking opportunity for a possibly related question:
My Model A's 9" rear has cast housing ends with no provision for internal seal, requiring bearings with an o-ring seal. A new set of axles came with Strange A1021 o-ring bearings installed that had an outer sealed side and an inner side open to the gear lube which seemed odd. The bearings were initially packed with grease. A tech at Strange said these are "drag race only" bearings, which I understood to mean not for heavy side loading. After running a few months, I have a leak on one side and intend to replace the o-ring (plus a little sealant). Anyone have experience with this bearing setup?