Front Bearings Replacement !?!?!?

[Bull_79 0]

Man I and down to the little stuff now and ran into a snag the wheel bearings on my 1964LL . Apparently the back bearings with the seal aren't common and everyone had to order them one company wanted $52.00 each and napa wanted $21.00 each now come on how can something be that different in price? Outer bearings $6.50x2 and races $3.50x4,and I just spent $50.00 on 2 new tires so to rebuild the front end on a '60s LL get ready to spend some $$$$.

[MrSteele 476]

That can be done in 2 ways, either with the lipped seal (the best way) or, if your tractor is going to spend most of its remaining life at shows or sitting in a barn waiting for the next show, you can buy a seal without a lip for a few bucks, and most folks who have seals in stock will have them. If you intend to use the tractor, the extra bucks for the lipped seal is worth it. I chose the unlipped, but remove and clean the bearings, then repack every year. The lip will keep more trash out of the inner wheel supposedly, but I have had little trouble with mine.

[PhanDad 3,246]

You should be able to use the unsealed bearing with one of the new "seal washers" that are used on the newer tractors. The "seal washer" is almost the same diameter as the wheel hub, and, on the outer edge, there's a rubber section that runs on the inside of the hub keeping junk out of the hub. On the newer tractors, it's sandwiched between the spacer and inner wheel bearing; Simplicity part #170168. The FDT tractors used a couple of washers instead of the spacers. You would place the seal between the inner most washer(s) and the inner wheel bearing.

[RonHatch 0]

I bought new Timkens tapered roller bearings including the outer race at my local farm store (Blaine's Farm and Fleet) for $7.00 each. I was able to pry the rubber seal off the old bearing and reuse it. Ron

[Bull_79 0]

Ron I was going to do that but the one tore when I was taking them out,so I wasn't so lucky this time.