Hey everybody. I've been working on the hubs and axles lately. What a saga!
I pulled apart the hubs and cleaned everything off. In my infinite wisdom I pitched the old grease seals which proved to be a big mistake.
I tried calling Harbor Freight for replacements and never could get through. For a week. Yes I called the right number. I looked it up and verified it many times.
Ok then. I've studied this thread (
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=30022) quite a bit so I thought I'd try an auto parts store. Swung by Advantage Auto parts. Guy there simply refused to look up anything in the computer unless I had a make and model of a vehicle. Tried to give him the SKF parts number and he couldnt help me. Wouldnt even bother looking up the 30205 bearing either. Fine. I'm outta here.
Next stop: O'Reilly Auto parts. GUy there was _very_ helpful. Tried a million ways to look up the part but couldnt find anything. Pulled the catalogs and books off the shelf - no luck w the grease seals. But we did find the bearings. $20 each. X4 = $80. Sheesh! He referred me to IBT Bearings (
http://www.ibtinc.com/). He said if anyone would have them, it'd be this place. He said they have everything under the sun when it comes to bearings and seals. It's all they do.
So I look up the KC office and get Kelly on the phone. Kelly is a... well this is a cordial website and I won't type out the word I'd like to use. Suffice it to say Kelly won't get a Christmas card from me. He was a jerk. So IBT Bearing can go stuff it.
Finally got online to Red Trailers and found their part #SJ8510-18B for $6.20 (I think it was). I got 4 of them. They were backed up so it took several days before they even shipped it. (Although they were fantastic about being upfront about the delay and keeping me informed when they finally shipped.)
So here is what I finally got:
Can't really see in the pic but it does have 30-52-10 on the front.
The back, out of curiosity:
A lot beefier than the HF seals.