Front wheel oil leak

[Adam Hicklin]

Hi All.  Passenger side wheel has an oil leak on the inside of the tire.  Had a similar situation about 8000 miles ago and had a situation where the leak was undetected and the wheel got really hot.  Had the bearings and seals replaced and all has been good.  Fast forward to now and I noticed the leak on the inside of the tire.  The coach has been parked for about 4 months and I know it wasn’t leaking nor had it been low on oil when it was parked.  Oil level now looks just slightly below normal.  It is a very small leak, but a leak none the less.  Hear are my questions:  1. If I top the oil level off, can it be driven to a nearby shop for repair?  Should I have someone come to the house to fix it? (Last time I had it towed to a shop) 2.  What could be the cause?  This coach is not hard driven.  Fairly well maintained.  Total of 22,000 miles. And now this is the second time it has leaked.  Shouldn’t these oil bathed bearings and seals last 150,000 miles? 

Anyway, what should the next step be?

Thanks in advance. 

[Eric Maclean]

Adam
First to your question #1 yes if there is still oil showing in your hub driving it to a local shop should not be a problem not 500 miles  and keep an eye on the oil level once you start to move as the leak may get worse.

I would suspect that the seal was defective or damaged on installation or the front wheel bearing where not adjusted properly .
First raise the front wheels off the ground and check for any looseness in the wheel assembly ( just grab the tire top and bottom and try to move it in and out if there is any real movement you have either a wheel bearing not adjusted
Properly or a king pin with worn bushings.

Secondly not all wheel seals are created equally , their construction varies with manufacturer and price range.
I use stemco voyager seals because of the construction and the way the seal unit itself provides the rotating seal surface so you are not reliant on the seal to spindle fit or mismatched tolerances.


https://www.google.com/search?q=stemco++posi+plus+seal&client=tablet-android-lenovo-rev2&sxsrf=ALiCzsbifYExw_DFPi5dhquH9nYM8QUYNg%3A1651578760110&ei=iBdxYsO0BtjWtAbR9LLQBg&oq=stemco++posi+plus+seal&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQoAE6BwgjELADECc6BwgAEEcQsANKBAhBGABQ5AtY_Rpg0SZoAXABeACAAbYCiAHJCpIBBTItNC4xmAEAoAEByAEJwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

Hope this helps
Eric