Grease seals for Cleveland Wheels
 

The older Cleveland Wheels come with felt seals to retain the grease and keep dirt out. I'm wondering if anyone has switched over to actual oil seals on these wheels to retain the grease? Does anybody know the reason why Cleveland uses felt seals? Is it because they don't create drag on the Wheel? If you have switched over to actual oil / grease seals, could you give me a National or Chicago Rawhide part number?

Charlie

PS I'm sure this has been discussed before. I used the search function but couldn't find any threads related to this question. That seems odd to me. However I have noticed that posts that I have made years ago often I cannot find Now using the search feature.

Charlie the better solution is to switch to an inexpensive double sealed bearing. This is what Allen from AntiSplat does. I have the bearing # if interested. You would have to turn your wheels on a lathe to modify them.

On Grove wheels you can install seals that are used on amphibious wheels. On my Rocket I modded the axles to have a zerk and this type of grease seal but I'm considering changing them over to the sealed bearings.

Bob, I have bought a lot of stuff from Allen at Antisplat, however having a frequently used aircraft and being on the other side of the planet effectively rules out sending my wheels to him for modification.

I would be grateful to know which bearing # to use for a modification to my Cleveland wheels.

Thanks, Mal.

These are the seals I Use: Timken 473237.

Keith,

Thanks for the information. I'll check it out tomorrow when I go to the local bearing house.

Charlie

Keith, is this seal for a press-in replacement for the felt seals?

Thanks, Bill

The Timken 473237 seems to fit a 1 3/4" axle Diameter, and a 2.374" Housing Bore. I believe the two seat RV's have a 1 1/4" axle.

Cheers, David
RV-6A KBTF

David,
I don't think the seals for the bearings ride on the axle itself. Referencing my drawing C3, I believe the seals ride on the U405 spacers. I may be wrong about that. Can anyone else verify or refute that?

Charlie

Correct. This is how amphibious setups work.

I know there are options out there but I have always used, and been happy with, the Cleveland felt seals. I just clean them with Spirits and blow them off and re pack. Easy! Oh, AND cheap!:-)
Nordo