Damaged grease seal, need advise!

[Highlander]

I was cleaning my wheels tonight, getting ready to put them back on, after my bad day at the tire shop. I noticed the rear wheel grease seal was damaged, kinda bent in one spot. I'm certain this was done by the tire installers, and want to know if I should replace it before putting my wheel back on. I don't think the bearing is damaged, it turned normally, but I'm not 100 % sure. What would you do?
It's an '07 with 20k miles. Here's the best pic I could take. Good advice appreciated!

 

[lankeeyankee]

Call justin and order new ones, put it back together and ride it until the new ones come in. Be sure to clean and repack bearings when replacing seal

 

[isiahstites]

Seals are cheap, replace it. Worst thing you could ever have is a bearing fail on you and freeze causing an accident over a ten dollar part.

 

[GIXERHP]

That is a just a dust seal basically! The wheel bearing is sealed!

Just order a new one and replace later

 

[isiahstites]

That is a just a dust seal basically! The wheel bearing is sealed!

Just order a new one and replace later

Correct but if I remember correctly only one side of the bearing is sealed. The less **** that gets in there the better.

 

[rubbersidedown]

Bearings are cheap.I did a whole thread on re/re of bearings 5-10 years ago.At Suzuki you'll pay 4 times what you will at a bearing house or other supplier.Get new bearings that are sealed both sides,way better.Take something really sharp(I use a scalpal) and remove the seals from the new bearing.Inspect for grease,believe it or not,it can be forgotten or cheaped out on in the build process.I then treat the bearing like a used one and remove all that cheap a55 grease and put in my own quality stuff. With 20 on yer bike and the wheels off,why not,perfect opertunity to toss in some new ones.With the double sealed bearings you'll get many more miles out of them.The dust seal does do some good,but moisture still gets in. Before tossing out the old bearings,I like to use them to drift in the new one's,better than a socket etc. bearing pullers and hydrolic presses are great for removal and re-install,but the average back-yarder doesn't usually have either.I've worked on bikes for 30+ years and still haven't bother to get those tools.I just punch 'em out with a brass drift. If yer not totally confident,just hit yer local shop,prolly a minimum charge,15 minutes tops.


RSD.

 

[2006busa]

if you are interested in doing bearings also, i just did mine all the way around with the brand all balls. i got both fronts and rears seals included for 63$ on amazon. idk if your the same way as i am, but i would probably loose sleep at night if i put it back together that way knowing it wasn't quite right. id just replace it for some peace of mind.

 

[ky busa]

replace it

 

[Highlander]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm going to take your advice, and order the seals and bearings, but I'm going to put it back together for a ride on Sunday. It needs a ride, been sitting for weeks now as the last several weekends were rain outs. I don't mind the extra wrenching. This is my 4th set of tires installed on it, and first time I've seen this kind of damage done. Thanks all!

 

[GoldenChild]

lol, it's a dust cover flat head screwdriver opposite side and lift a little.. i see it all the time from guys doing their own tire mounting on bike and not using lift bar to get wheel high to slide axle through...waste of time and money for a 30 second fix..

 

[Schism]

i use a torch to pop those puppies out. very easy job but don't sweat it.