'70 Charger front rotor oil seal depth

[Coelacanth]

I'm looking for guidance on how far to tap in some new oil seals. I have new rotors, Timken races & bearings pressed in all the way, but I'm not sure how far in to tap the new seals. I found with an old seal that it could be tapped in much deeper than in these pics, even so deep that the inner raised part was below the machined hole of the rotor. That didn't seem right because then, the seals wouldn't be touching the spindles when the rotors are reinstalled. I tapped these ones in so that the outer rings are about 1/8" below the machined hole in the rotor, but as you can see, they can be tapped in quite a bit more until they're touching the bearings.

I searched for an answer to this and found lots of threads about which way to orient the seals, but none about how deep to press them in.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Normally they are installed flush with the machined back face... I'm sure they are fine 1/8" past but I wouldn't go any further...

 

[Coelacanth]

Thanks, I can ease them out a bit. I had nothing to go on previously and after tapping them in to meet the bearings, and seeing the raised inner ring below the hole in the rotor, I figured "this can't be right..."

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Thanks, I can ease them out a bit. I had nothing to go on previously and after tapping them in to meet the bearings, and seeing the raised inner ring below the hole in the rotor, I figured "this can't be right..."

Leave them, more risk of damaging the seal trying to back it out...

 

[Coelacanth]

I unfortunately sometimes overthink things. So hypothetically and logically speaking, with the oil seal outer ring being fitted flush with the hole in the rotor, there's about a 1/4" of space between the seal and the bearing. This would allow the bearing to slip outward, we wouldn't want that. So the question being, when you fit the rotors back onto the spindles, is it tightening the big center nut to the correct torque spec what makes the bearings and seals press to the correct position and spacing?

 

[RemCharger]

Yes the bearings are squished together to make constant contact with the inner races. They don't float around.

 

[Coelacanth]

Cool, that's what I figured. I originally thought the seals had to press in against the bearings, wrongly believing the seals kept the bearings in place, not the overall tightness of the rotor on the spindle. I had to buy a second set of seals to do it right the second time. Thanks for the advice, hope this topic might help others in the future.

 

[MoparJW]

I've had one leak that was tapped in a little too far, made a mess.