Topic: repacking wheel bearings
We had a front wheel bearing fail on our 01 Focus, so I thought it would be worth repacking some new bearings with high temp grease (NEO HP 800). I watched a few youtube videos, and they all made it look as simple as prying off the seals, clearing out the old grease, and putting in the new.
However, I found the SKF bearings we bought (https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph … p;jsn=1443) to be a real pain to work on. One side had a couple seals more or less like I'd seen in the videos, but the other has a metal ring that really didn't want to come loose. I eventually pried that side loose & took care of the grease, but now that it's back together, the side with that metal seal is a bit loose -- the seal can slide out of the outer race maybe 1/16" or something.
Does this sound like something that would be an issue once installed? If I squeeze both sides of the hub together, it seems to spin properly without any play.
Are SKF bearings like this particularly hard to repack or am I just missing something obvious?