No ,won't happen without damaging the the big seal.
They don't come out that easy after they've been driven in.

I'd like to see that trick !
And I have alot of tricks ,but not that one
prying on the u-joint will distort the seal ,let alone the wheel bearing even coming out easy .

Follow the proper procedure in this article ,you'll be much happier in the end.

Rich

 

I had to pull mine right back off after putting it in becuase I wasn't paying attention and had the hub 180 dgress out. I can see where it would be a problem if the seals have been in a while. I haven't tried it after they have been in a while. I'm sure you're right.

 

I didn't do the ball joints but I had to do the bearing hub and the seals and I tried the pvc method to install the knucke seal on the axle with no luck. I then took a trip to the depot and bought the 1 1/4 inch black pipe and flange and end cap and ground it down to fit the seal and gave it a few good whacks with the hammer. Piece of cake. Also used it to install the axle in the knuckle also very easy. Invest in the steel pipe it's worth the $9.00. Ed

 

For those of you thinking that you can just reuse the old seals, let me share a little with you. I just bought an 04 F250 knowing that the ball joints were bad. I let the salesman talk me into letting him buy the parts if I would put them in. He knew that I used to be a mech. Anyway, having worked on many, many older Ford 4x4s I was sure that I could do the job no problem. He handed me 4 new ball joints along with the keys and away I went home. I pulled the locking hub and the bearing hub off and spend an hour figuring out that what I was looking at was a seal. Of course, it was much to late to get new seals, and I needed the truck on the road the next day, so I put it back together with all the old seals. The very next day I had to manually lock the hubs to get the beast in 4 wheel drive, hubs that had worked fine in auto mode 2 days before when I test drove the the pick-up. Moral of the story? I know that I have a vacuum leak on the big seals or on the bearing hub o-ring. Now I get to take everything back apart and do it right. If you time is worth anything at all, replace those seals and o-rings.

 

Can the axle needle bearing(s) be replaced? Can it be pulled and a new one pressed or tapped in?

 

Using a DYI seal driver, am I safe to assume that the axle seal is pressed in until it is flush with the back edge of the knuckle?

 

Everything was going fine with the ball-joint replacement until I replaced the outer thrust washers and attempted to put the snap ring back on. I could not get the snap ring back into the groove. I tried everything I could think of to pry the axle out to get the snap ring into the groove but no luck. I thought maybe the nuckle seal was not pressed all the way on but I checked and it seemed to be pressed all the way on.
Ideas???
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ralph

99 F250 PS 4x4.

 

get a bigger pry bar to get the axle out more!!

 

I clamped a vise grip to the end of the axle and used that as a purchase point to pry the axle out enough for the snap ring to pop into place. Worked like a champ.

 

Are the four nuts securing the hub assembly completely tightened? Did you use a home made seal installer, you may have pressed just a tad too far?

 

Ok guys, I followed all the directions and installed everything today. While I was testing everything, the truck makes some strange sounds while in 4wd. Everything went according to plan until it came time to install the knuckle seal. I used the homemade seal driver and may have sligltly deformed the seal. Is it supposed to seat perfectly flat? thanks.

 

I didn't feel too comfortable whacking the seal with the driver. IF I was to take the axles to the dealer, how do they get them on? I imagine that they have a jig that fits in the press.

Could I have bent the axles whacking the seal on there?

 

your doing something wrong if your concerned about bending an almost 2" axle made of hardened steel by installing a sheet metal stamped rubber surrounded seal. It doesnt take much to get the seal on the axle.. essentially all your trying to overcome is the Blue sealant... I used a regular hammer and about 5 hits and mine was on and flush..

 

As far as the seal sitting flush it should be close.. I just referenced the factory installed depth..

Did you clean where the old seal was...as in knock the rust off with some light sandpaper.

Sounds like you forced it on when it was not square.. Usually I lightly tap the seal to get it started straight.. Then I hit it a couple of times hard and its on there..

As far as the noise goes.. Are you 100% sure that you got the SNAP RING in the groove in the axle??? I know that you have to pry the axle outward to expose the slot for the snap ring...

 

Thanks guys. Here is an update. I took everything apart and re-checked everything. Once back together, I spun the wheels off the ground by hand and found nothing wrong, so I took it on the road and no problems. The squeaks are 99.9% gone. I'm happy now. Thanks for the replies. I guess I was rushing while putting everything back together.