Anyone ever change a hub seal on a 555e? Both of mine seem to be in bad shape as they leak oil down the backside of the front tire. It’s not terribly bad, but enough that I need to fix it soon. I’ve looked over the manual and it seems to be straight forward, but wondered if anyone had any tips? I also just realized the hubs take hydraulic oil for some reason. I’ve been putting gear oil in there. Whoops.
No but mine started leaking today so if you go first let me know how it goes.
That sucks. Unless it starts pouring out I’m probably not replacing it until after August when the pond is done. I need the machine as much as possible between now and then.
Looks like the hub seal can be replaced without removing the kingpins at least. Not so for the axle seal. My right upper kingpin has slop in it but I removed the bolts and beat the snot out of it and couldn't get it to budge. Probably gonna take a blue tip wrench to get it out. I love the manual description for removing the upper and lower swivel pins. Shows the guy pulling them out by finger tip.
Item #8 Item #9 Item number 8 is the seal
I’m fairly certain just the hub seal is leaking, but I really hope it’s not from the axle side. I haven’t looked that close but probably should. thanks for the confirmation. I also thought it would be #8
So after looking at the machine today I think I have one of each leaking. One side is a hub seal, the other an axle seal. Stupid question here….. how is the axle fed oil? I searched all over and didn’t notice a port or plug anywhere. I didn’t have a flashlight bright enough to see way under. Thoughts?
When you fill the front axle housing, lube is splashed around when in operation.
Thanks buddy!
My hub stopped leaking and the oil level is okay. I was working in some vines and weeds so I'm thinking I just had a vine wrap up in it.
Mine goes through those phases too. It will leak and leak but then it randomly stops. Probably because mine is always buried in mud
Hey NH, did you ever replace your hub seal? My passenger side is leaking again and I'm thinking now is the time to change it, considering its sitting in my driveway at the moment.
I just did my axle housing axle seals and bushings. Hub seals, hub axle bushings, and hub axle seal. It was not that bad. Do you have a manual? If not I can upload pictures. The manual runs you through the process. The large hub seal that is like $80 was the easiest to get out. Once you get it apart you can easily get at the backside with a chisel. The other seals came out with the Harbor Freight slide hammer. The bushings in the hub came out with the right size seal/bearing driver tool. The bushing in the axle was hard. I had to grind down a screwdriver as sharp as a knife to get behind it. The bushings are split. Once you get the edges to overlap and the pressure is relieved you can get it with the slide hammer. My big issue at this point is how to set the wheel bearing preload. I started another thread about that. You will also have to set the preload after replacing the seal.
Mine never started back leaking so no.
After you take your lug nuts off, there are two 5mm Allen head bolts that hold the planetary cover on. This is what the cover looks like off the machine. There is an o ring seal.
This is the hub side. The six bolts are what sets the preload on the wheel bearings. You remove the six bolts and use two of them in the empty holes. It acts like a gear puller and the ring gear and outer bearing / race comes apart.
There is a snap ring not shown in the pic and these two behind it. These should come out first, my posts are out of order.
This is under the ring gear plate, you can see the outer wheel bearing.
Gently pry from behind and the outer wheel bearing will come off with the hub
Another view
Unbolt the 8 "king pin" bolts. Using a chisel being carefull, pry out the upper and lower pins, the upper is straight, not tapered, it should come off easy. The bottom is rounded, it also comes off easy. I do not have any pics unfortunately.
I could not get my outer tie rod end out of the hub / knuckle, I flopped it to the side on a block of wood. there was a lot of mud in my machine.
This is the axle side
The U joints were also full of mud
The axle just pulls out
Cleaned up
Axle Side
Axle seal in hub, used 5 lb. Harbor Freight slide hammer
For the bushing in the hub, I bought a 52 pieces Vevor bushing, bearing, and seal set and pounded it through
On the axle seal in the axle housing I used the HF slide hammer
Getting the bushing out of the axle housing was a pain. At first I didn't realize the bushings are split. Afterward, I realized a better way and I sharpened a HF screwdriver to get behind the bushing to loosen it up. You have to get the ends of the bushing to overlap. Then put in the slide hammer to get it out.
Now I am stuck. I started another thread about the torque of these six bolts. these set the preload on the wheel bearings and there is a discrepancy Hope this helps you decide if you want to do the project. Took a long time. I feel it was worth it. between the manual and the max torque charts.
Almost forgot. The hub seal, with the hub off, you can catch the lip with a chisel. It came out very easy
This is the hub without the seal, to remove you just flip it over with the lugs facing up, then catch the steel seal lip with a chisel, popped right out.
New hub seal in place, just use the old one and a block of wood to pound it in.
1998 555E, Thanks so much for sharing!
Yes...thanks for all the pics and descriptions. Us three-nickel owners appreciate it .
Pump some grease in it.
Holy smokes man! Wonderful posts! Thanks again!
You are all very welcome. I have been helped out many times on this board from reading all of your posts.
That is one of the best DIY procedures I have seen. Awesome job, I'm going to buy a triple nickel just to rebuild it.
One side of mine was leaking bad. I thought it was due to the bushing being worn so I bought the bushing o rings and seals. Once I got it apart, I couldn't find any failures of the parts. Turns out the vent was plugged forcing the oil out when it warmed up and pressurized. Cleaned vent. Problem solved. It was a straight forward job and I don't recall any hardship in doing it. Now, I always check vents first.
My vent of the front axle was bad as well and I had oil coming out of both sides. I fixed that a while ago and there isn’t oil on the driver side anymore. However when I went to check the oil last week I noticed the passenger side was almost dry. Well now I know what the real cause was.
I can’t get these bolts out to save my life. Lucky guy.
I had a lot of trouble with those as well. I used a quarter inch impact driver with a 5 mm hex socket along with heat cycles from a small map torch and WD-40 around the threads. I ended up buying new ones because of how chewed up they were from the impact. I also snapped the hex Allen type socket during this process. It was a pain.
Well now I feel better knowing yours wasn’t a cake walk haha I went and got my dad’s oxygen and acetylene tanks so I can heat them up. My little blue bottle of propane didn’t work. I too thought of replacing the bolts. I haven’t stripped them yet, but I’m sure it will be forthcoming.
Just realized that I put the large hub seal in backwards on the previous pics. This is what is should look like installed correctly.
Link to wheel bearing preload thread, much info there Can't promise the info is correct but it is what I found.
1998, I very much appreciate you posting these. My huh rebuild was fairly simple minus a few issues but some of your pictures came in handy. Such as when I knocked my thrust rings off the bench and didn’t know the order. Or trying to get that ring gear off. That was a saving grace. Only other advice I will give y’all is when you go to put the ring gear back on, tighten the bolts in small increments and tighten the bolt opposite from the one you did previously. That way you are pressing the bearing in all around and not just in one or two spots.
I have fixed several leaks by opening up stuck or clogged vents. Always the first thing I check too.