'55 Cub "Refurbishing"

[Cubfriend]

I wonder if soaking the leather seal in motor oil will cause it to swell some and create more friction when installed. I wonder if grease alone would be better. Anyone have any constructive comments on this matter.

[Gary Dotson]

Pre-soaking with oil won't hurt a thing, it's always a good idea on leather seals. You don't really need to soak the felt, per se but pre-oil it.

[Dale Finch]

So, do you guys think engine oil is the "lubricant" the manual calls for?
Surely SOMEONE has resolved this issue before me...

I plan to double check the orientation of the oil seals I removed, but the more I check earlier posts, the less sure I am about which way the seal faces.

I usually have no problem with other seals...lip faces fluid. In the photo of the new seals next to the manual pages (previous post here), you can see a drawing I had JUST found and printed out. I thought this clarified it for me, but that drawing shows the "lip" facing away from the hub.
QUESTION: is the drawing correct?

[Dale Finch]

OK, so here is where I got the photo of that front seal setup:
http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22629

At one point, forum member "drspiff" (who posted the drawing) asked if the drawing was correct. No one answered, and I now think the drawing is INCORRECT.

Here is a photo of the new seal (from TM Tractors). Not the difference in circumference between the two metal sides. One is slightly larger than the other, in this case it is the open side of the seal.

Here are some photos of the oil seals I took out, after cleaning them with kerosene. You can see that the old seals had a wrap of "spring steel" strip, rather than an actual spring as the new ones have (the VERY worn "open" sides are facing to the right, as is the new seal). And note that the circumferences are reversed between the old ones...

The difference in the circumferences was confusing me too! But I am now ALMOST positive, that the open side of the seal faces INTO the hub.

ANY COMMENTS?!

[Mht]

Coming from an old school mechanic I would agree that the open side of the seal faces into the hub. The purpose of the seal is to keep lube in the hub more so than dirt out. The hubs that I pulled apart recently had the open side in. I have pulled the hubs apart on some old vehicles that had leather seals and the open side faced in also

[john2189]

Picture of the tc37f parts book showing the seal lip away from the hub. I assume they would want to keep dirt out.

Better pic

[Dale Finch]

I think it would be hard to tell from that Parts Manual image, since it is hand drawn.

[Jim Becker]

On lube for the felt washer, I always use motor oil unless there are specific instructions otherwise (SAE 30 because that is what is in my oil can). How much, I probably use more than Gary does. I like to have it fairly well saturated but it doesn't need to drip back out when you install it. I figure more oil means less opportunity for water to get in and it seems otherwise harmless.

I install oil seals with the lip in, again unless the specific instructions say otherwise. There are exceptions. The main exceptions I have seen are on track rollers of crawlers. There it is considered more important to keep water and dirt out than to keep all the oil in. The shop manual for the Cub says to put the lip out, towards the felt. So that is what I do. I suppose it is for the same reason as the crawler rollers. Yes, I have had Cubs in water up to the front hubs.

[john2189]

I think it would be hard to tell from that Parts Manual image, since it is hand drawn.

They have drawn things by hand long before computers

When ever I question how something goes back together, I look at the parts manual

[Dale Finch]

.....The shop manual for the Cub says to put the lip out, towards the felt. So that is what I do.....

SHHESH! I just reread that section, and I DO remember reading that before. It is quite specific.

I guess I just dismissed it, or forgot it, and the "normal" installation would have a seal with the open side to the fluid, in this case I thought that would be the grease from the bearing. But you are right, it would be more useful to keep water (and dirt) out. And that means BOTH these seals had been put in backwards. Oh my...what a brain struggle for two stupid seals!!!

If there are no statements, then to the contrary, I WILL install those seals AS SHOWN in that CAD drawing above.
Sorry to have seemed so dense!

[Don McCombs]

This photo from TM Tractor Parts also seems to confirm the correct orientation.

[Mht]

I stand corrected and learned something new about rebuilding cubs. I’m fixing to put new bearings and seals in a couple of hubs on the cub I’m currently working on and now I know they will be correctly oriented. Thanks Dale for pushing to find the correct answer to your question on this matter

[Dale Finch]

Don, PERFECT!!! Thanks to everyone who persevered through this "search for the truth"!

I AM glad I persisted...just wish I had figured it out before now. Guess it was a good thing my parts had not yet arrived, or they might (probably) would have been installed incorrectly!! I'll have to thank Ron at TM Tractors for saving my tush...and wallet...when they had to be pulled back off!!

[Glen]

Dale, the pic you posted above, from the other post, that says inside and outside on it, the inside and outside look backwards.
The area on the right in the pic is the spindle that goes inside the hub, and the area at the left of the pic, to the left of the felt, is outside the hub.

[Dale Finch]

This is where terminology can be confusing...the above CAD drawing is using Inside to mean toward the inside of the tractor....not the hub. Several previous posts used inside to mean inside the hub.