Topic: NOS Sealed wheel bearing questions.

[grcamna2]

I've got a little 77' Honda farm bike wheel and replacing wheel bearings. I found a set of NTN NOS bearings which have been sitting on a shelf for quite a while.

I spin them by hand and I don't feel much grease/resistance inside,even though I know they do have factory grease in them. I'm considering removing the hard-rubber seals and flushing them out and adding some fresh high quality grease,then reinstalling the seals.. I want to be sure not to damage the seals during the removal process which is a concern as I like 'sealed bearings for life'. The other concern I have is what's the best type of grease(quality synthetic?)to use for Long Life(if I do actually remove the seals to do this)to pack these bearings with and:how much is enough?  I don't want to over-pack them and blow the seals out when they get hot,etc.
I've never removed the seals from a bearing to repack them before,just replaced them.

I imagine,the easiest way to do this,is just install them and not worry about it..

[BenelliSEI]

I’ve done this many times. Pop both sides out and flush out the old stuff. I have a huge tub of premium grease for around the farm stuff. Hand pack it (a wad of grease in one palm and drag the bearing through the grease and press it in the crevices), so the space is 50-60% full. Snap the sides back on and install.

I’ve done this to ancient, original bearings that were in a Honda too. Clean them out and if they feel good, with little or no play, I repack them and put them right back. I’m convinced that some 40 year old bearings are far superior to product we buy now. I sound more like my Dad every day!

[grcamna2]

Ok, I just want to be very gentle with these NOS hard rubber seals/shields when removing and re-installing them;has anyone used a high quality synthetic grease  ?