Just got to the stage where my frame is assembled and need to pack the hubs. I read around, and settled on the large socket and hammer method to remove the inner bearing and seal without ruining the seal. Well, lets just say it didn't work. I mean it did get the bearing and seal out, but not only did I ruin the seal, but the bearing itself.
1st Tire - Ruined Seal and Bearing by jseyfert3, on Flickr
So, reading around again, I find I'm not thefirst person to ruin a bearing while trying to keep the seal intact. In that thread, he was using the hammer method like I did. He said the seals are $1/each from HF and the bearings are $5.95, but that was back in 2009. Either way, bearing = 6x cost of seal. I will call HF tomorrow, find out current prices, and order a bunch of spare seals and probably an entire spare hub assembly.
Oh, and now that was was ruined, and the bearing, I said I wasn't going to ruin another bearing, so I used my Lisle Seal Puller I bought for the trailer but didn't want to use cause I didn't want to damage the seal. Well, I can say it works great. Took a whopping 3 seconds to pop that seal right out. Damaged the seal, yes, but the bearing was hardly touched, much less hammered upon.
2nd Tire - Ruined Seal, Intact Bearing by jseyfert3, on Flickr
From now on, I plan to use this handy seal puller and just keep spare seals on hand. For $1-2, I'd rather ruin them then the bearings, plus it's fast, no messing around. Stick it between the seal and bearing, push in, then rock the tool backwards and pop, there's the seal.