Damaged oil seal right out of the box?

Would a national seal be higher quality than one that came with a dorman hub? I bought a national seal cause it was quick shipping and not too spendy on Amazon. Figured it would be better than what came with the dorman.

 

I don't know what came with the Dorman hub, I bought the Timken from Bill (@BamaToy1997) with my hubs. When I dinged one I went to the Carquest near me. They had a National on the shelf and holding it next to the Timken the difference in quality was obvious. That's when I checked with the dealer just to see. The OEM part is better still than the Timken but it's not really worth the 2x or 3x price over it (I knowingly paid for the convenience). The Timken is more than acceptable.

 

I recently changed out wheel bearings in car using National Bearings. Their parts numbers were the same as Timken, leading me to believe Timken makes National bearings...maybe seals as well. Who knows?

 

Of course I will suggest getting a complete unit! haha. But seriously, the complete unit saves a TON of time and problems. With a preassembled unit you don't have to worry about having the correct adapters for a press, or a problem arising during the press procedure. Nothing worse than a simple mistake having you stuck with no truck! The biggest being time. With my units you simply swap out and go. Most customers complete the entire job in less than 30 minutes.

They do not come with enough bearing grease for sure! I was appalled by the number of units I see and saw that were just barely enough in it to keep things wet.
And certainly better to replace sooner than later. The longer you wait to more chance you take of something else failing or getting damaged. Bad angles for the bearing equate to bad CV axle angles, and the risk of blowing a joint or tearing a boot.

To be fair, I used to use National brand seals and I have seen no lack of quality with them compared to Timken. I choose Timken outer seals simply because I can get the en-mass for cheaper. The inner seals I sell are $15 each.

 

They simply use the same part number. Part numbers are not corporate protected. I could manufacture a seal and give it the same part number if I wanted to. It is a sales tactic. You are told to search for Timken bearing BM500001, and what pops up on the screen is part number BM500001 by National. So people don't look too closely and think it is the same one. National and Timken are not at all the same company, nor have the same manufacturing plant.

 

Holding it my hand it was obviously inferior. The stamping and finish were crude. The construction was completely different, the rubber seal itself wasn't 'C'-shaped with two springs and two lips like the OEM style but rather a simple flap with a single lip and one spring.

It's possible it wasn't the right application and boxed wrong (seemed about the right size, though) or maybe not even actually National or suppliers have changed.

It had the appearance of being a poorly made knock-off to be honest so I didn't even buy it or see if the dimensions were right.

 

I'll be fair and say that my comparison was done early on when I started these, 6 years ago. So it may have changed since then!

 

Do you know the part number for the CV dust seal? I cant find it anywhere. I feel like I should replace that while I am doing this, but I am not sure if it is necessary... Thoughts?