So over the last few months I could hear and feel my front right bearing getting worse on my 2007 4runner with 90k miles in the salt capital of Rochester, NY. Of course, it really got bad and gave me a good scare when I was 2 hours away from home on a ski trip. Loud grinding and vibrations. The rim got hot and just pulled slightly to the right. But then it went away but I coaxed her home.

I ordered a Bluepit bearing and hub assembly. In my situation, I thought worth the extra expense to get it done quickly and correctly. Besides fighting rusty bolts, it was a fairly striaght forward job. That is until I got the bearing off and found what it pictured.

There was quite a bit of rust inside where the bearing would be seated. There was also some sort of retaining spring that was broke which might be the reason for the moisture in this area. I put arrows where this very thin spring is broken. Anyone have any idea what this is called and what I should do with it?

I reassembled everything with the new bearing hub and all appears to work perfectly.

Thanks,

John

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That spring is part of the seal that presses into the backside of the knuckle. The failure of that seal is probably why you're original bearing failed, some moisture got in there at some point. I'd recommend replacing it ASAP, you don't want your new bearing to go bad.

Rick is correct. There is an oil seal on the other side where the axle comes together with the knuckle. It wouldn't be a bad idea to replace it. You also should have a new o-ring on your new bearing as well as a seal between the hub and the bearing. That should keep it clean and dry inside. The bearings are sealed so it makes the seals and o-ring less important, but as you can see road salt takes a heavy toll when it gets inside.

Steering knuckle oil seal. Do I have to pull the front drive shaft assembly to remove and replace the steering knuckle oil seal.... That might be above my pay grade. Or can I remove the steering knuckle and get to the oil seal from there..... I'm also having a hard time finding one for sale online.

No need to pull the front axle shaft. It really isn't too much harder than doing the wheel bearing, you should be able to get it done yourself.

After I got the wheel bearing off, I removed the two bolts that hold the knuckle to the lower control arm. This let me swing the knuckle out just far enough to slip the end of the axle shaft out of the knuckle and gave me room to work. To remove the old seal, I used a hammer and flat head screwdriver to knock it out. Then I hit it with a wire brush and some PB blaster to get all of the loose surface rust off. To press the new seal in, I used a c-clamp, a piece of angle iron, and a wood block. It took a little bit of work but I got it in without having to remove the knuckle. It helps to grease everything up a little bit to.

PITA I know, especially since you just did the wheel bearing, but better than having to do the wheel bearing again in a year or so.

The bolts holding the knuckle to the control arm are torqued pretty tightly and need red loc-tite when reinstalling.

Rick,

Were you able to do that without taking the tie-rod off? I pulled mine, but just because the manual said to.

I did not pull the tie rod. I was able to manipulate the axle shaft out of the knuckle after I unbolted the LCA from the knuckle.

-NICK

Awesome, thanks Nick.

Once I pulled the hub off the knuckle and saw the rust and broken retaining spring, I knew I would be coming back.

Anybody have an online source for that oil seal.... Might have to make the trip to the dealership. Not seeing any online

@Bumper2Bumper Auto might be able to help, I know he sells them with his bearing assemblies.

bingo
i was just saying this this morning in another thread.....
so many people just slap a bearing in and wonder why it goes out at 20k later
if you can do the wheel bearing you can do the seal....
the part # is national...710573

Yep! That is the part number. You can find them on RockAuto.com by searching for 710573. National and Timken brands. I sell mine for $14, including shipping with my bearing assemblies.

As for replacing it, you can unbolt the lower ball joint, which typically allows enough movement to slide the CV axle out the back of the spindle. This allows you to replace the seal at this point.

Timken lists that number (710573) as the front inner wheel seal. Then they list 710477 as the front outer wheel seal. Would the wheel seal at the knuckle end be considered the outer wheel seal?

John

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The one at the knuckle is considered the "inner" seal, as it is more inboard of the vehicle than the "outer" seal located between the bearing and the wheel hub.

It appears the manual shows two wheel seals, the inner and outer. One on the drive shaft and one pressed into the steering knuckle. While I'm in there and if I can, shouldn't I be replacing both the inner and outer wheel seals?

I believe my previous photo in the first post shows the outer wheel seal pressed into the backside of the steering knuckle that has been compromised. I haven't pulled the steering knuckle yet but I would think the inner wheel seal pressed onto the drive shaft should probably be replaced as well or at least have one on hand ready to go if it needs to be replaced.

My questions are:

1. Will I be able to remove and replace the (outer?) wheel seal pressed into the inboard side of steering knuckle without having to completely remove the steering knuckle as Nick describes? Edit: I think Nick answered this previous. Disregard.

2. If need be will I be able to access, remove and replace the (inner?) wheel seal seated on the outboard side of the drive shaft without having to completely remove either the steering knuckle as Nick describes or the drive shaft? Or just leave this wheel seal be if it looks like it's in good condition?

Hopefully I’ll be able to start on it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone,

John

The attachment is a cut and paste sections from repair manual about the wheel seals.

Edit: I bought both inner and outer wheel seals since posting.

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Steering knuckle oil seal.pdf (155.1 KB, 256 views)

The good news is everything came apart real easy since I was just here a week ago. I had to use a breaker bar to get the 2 bolts loose on the lower control arm. Nick was right, that's all you have to do is remove the lower control arm and you can slide the knuckle right off the drive shaft. Put a jack stand under the lower control arm because after you remove the bolts the shock absorber pushes it down and I had to use a bottle jack to put it back in place for the reinstall.

The wheel seal in the knuckle came right out. Lots of rust and pitting. I'd imagine if I keep this beast for any length of time and the bearing go again I will have to replace the steering knuckles because of the pitting probably allows water to get by the seals. Salt is killing everything.

I used a piece of plywood cut to size and 4 C-clamps to press the new wheel seal in. Wasn't too bad. Just have to take your time with it, applying even pressure to avoid it pooping out on one side. Took me three tries. Liberal amounts of grease. A temporary win though.

So the wheel seal on the drive shaft looked okay and there was some minor pitting on the shaft inside the seal so I decided since I was here I'd replace it. I carefully removed the old seal. The new seal was a different design which made me double check the numbers to be sure it was the correct one, which it was.

I could not get it on. It was just too tight and you hit one side and the opposite side popped off. After a hour of failure it was obvious a special tool was needed. I cleaned the old one up, greased it, and popped it back on. The day was getting short. Loss.

I planned on replacing the caliper because I replaced the opposite side 2 years ago so I figured since I have this side apart whey not do it now. So I had purchased the caliper and pads when I got the seals. Good thing because the inboard upper piston was seized. Fairly straight forward and a nice win after my last drive shaft seal failure. Win.

So since I put new pads on this side, time to swap out the pads on the other side. I figured I could get it done in less than 20 minutes. I pulled the pads only to find that caliper had both inboard pistons seized. They would NOT open all the way for new pads. I cracked a C-clamp trying. WTF. The days was over and I was out of parts so I slapped the old pads back in and put it all back together. Test drive all okay except it was obviously pulling slightly towards the new pads. Loss.

So, part three will happen after the weekend. Going skiing this weekend and taking the wife's truck.

Gonna get another caliper and hopefully a special tool to install the drive shaft seal. Unless someone has a special secret trick to getting them on.....

Oh look, a left over part I forgot to reinstall, the rotor shield that goes in between the hub and the knuckle. Nice job dummy. Loss. That makes it 2 wins and 3 losses.

Bourbon calls me.