[AT] Wheel bearing grease retainers

[Dean Vinson]

There'd been some wiggle in the left front wheel of my Farmall M since I bought the tractor last year, like the hub was slightly loose on the axle somehow.  That finally rose up to the top of the list of stuff to work on, so I took both wheels off and cleaned everything up to have a look.

With the help of the parts book, I realized that the inner and outer grease retaining seals were missing from both wheels.  Basically just thin metal discs that go up against the side of the wheel bearing to help keep the grease from falling into the wheel hub (inner bearing seal) or into the hub cap (outer bearing seal).

The missing thickness of those two discs meant that the wheel and bearings couldn't be snugged all the way up on the axle.  The castle nut and washer had been very tight, like somebody had really leaned on it, but that washer fits around the smaller-diameter outer threaded part of the axle and can't press against the bearings which are on the larger-diameter inner smooth part of the axle.  So there was some wiggle room.  The inner bearing cup had even gotten cattywampus in there a little bit, and had gouged up a lip on the inside of the wheel hub.  I had to grind it down to get the cup out.

Those grease retainers were missing on the right axle also, but on that side somebody had put an extra bushing in, like a big flat washer, against the outer bearing.  It wasn't wide enough to cover the whole face of the bearing, but it at least took up that slop.

The guys at the CaseIH parts counter are getting to know me fairly well by now, and they were happy enough to sell me another $46 worth of stuff.  (Two sets of grease retaining seals, two hubcap gaskets, and a new castle nut).  So it's all back together and working well.

I guess my question is, are those retaining seals normally ignored?  It's been about ten years since I repacked the wheel bearings in my old Super M, but I don't remember anything like those seals.  They don't show in the little diagram in the operator's manual where it talks about repacking the bearings, and there wasn't any noticeable problem with the Super M wheels so I didn't check out the parts book also.  Maybe the seals were there and I've just forgotten, but I sure don't remember them.

The other thing I couldn't figure out is how in the foggy blue morning the threads in one of the castle nuts had gotten worn down.  (It was the nut on the right side, not the really tight one on the left).  When I first went to put everything back together I couldn't tighten that side up... the nut would just spin on the threaded axle.  The axle threads looked a little mashed down also, which I could understand, but the nut itself?

Anyway, another little milestone in getting this tractor cleaned up.  Pictures at http://www.vinsonfarm.net/suburban_M.html if you're curious.

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net