Modern axle seal replacement?

[John Gelfer]

My 1928 Gardner has leather rear axle seals.  Rather than the inside lip of the seal riding against the axle, the wheel hub has a machined surface on the inside that rides on the leather seal.  There probably is a modern seal to fit, which would seal against the axle. It looks like there wouldn't be much room for a modern seal, unless the inside of the hub was shortened to provide clearance. Has anyone had experience with this? I would consider leather seals too, it they are available.

Thanks!

[Spinneyhill]

You might have to show us a picture or drawing. Gardeners aren't that common are they? On my Dodge the leather seal runs on a machined surface on the outside of a "nose" inside the hub. The nose is tapered as well.

[John Gelfer]

Yes, the Gardner hub has the same tapered nose inside that rides on the leather.  Can you still get the leather seals anywhere?  I don't think a modern seal will fit, due to the nose of the hub hitting it when you put the wheel on the axle.

[nickelroadster]

I have acouple of suggestions.  Look in the SKF seal handbook or Applied Industrial Technologies catalog.  It sure seams to me tha tI have seen leather seals in one of those books.  Somewhere else you might try is Olcar Bearings in North Carolina.  He will cut any size felt seal that you want and can probably do that with leather also.

[Durant Mike]

Although a Durant is not a Gardner, several of the Durant Motors Automobile club members have replaced their seal with a more modern one in their cars. Although the replacement part might not be the same number, jump over to the Durant Motors Automobile Club site at www.durantmotors.org and look at the Technical section by pressing the button on the left of the page. In the technical section I believe is a story of how one member replace his rear seal with a modern equivalent. Again this probably will not be the right size, but he had it machined to fit the new one.