Front wheel excluder seal

[gw33gp]

I discovered my right front wheel bearing was going bad. Since I have 4WD, I had to replace the hub. I was surprised how straight forward and easy it was.

When I had the hub out, I noticed what looked like plastic that fit up against the outboard CV joint. It fits between the hub and outboard CV joint. I looked it up in my Ford Workshop Manual and it is call the front wheel excluder seal. I noticed it had some cracks in it but did not have one to replace it. I needed to get everything back together so I reassembled without replacing it. There was no leaks or any sign of failure.

So, what is the function of that excluder seal? Should I be concerned about the small cracks? The hub has its own seals, so it should not have anything to do with those bearing.

 

[gw33gp]

It looks like I am not the only one that doesn't know much about this seal. I spoke with the dealership where I obtained the front hubs and found the latest part number for it. It is YL2Z-3K070-AA. They called it a dust seal and it is no longer available.

So, its function is pretty much what I suspected it to be. I have found NOS warehouses that have it but they indicate it does not fit my vehicle. Then I found an old post on TRS that started in 2008 regarding this dust seal and mentioned the last time the dealer installed one, it was the YL2Z-3K070-AA part number. So it appears that is the correct part.

Now, I am in the process of ordering it. I probably should order 2 but the left side one still looks good and they are not cheap.