Video: Bad seal install on a front hub at a Jeep dealership.

[WhatDidIGetInto]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8aCzM7oP60
I'm in the process of refreshing my front suspension since I'm putting in a front axle with 3.54 gears. Figgered I might as well get the hubs rebuilt, bought all the parts online because I couldn't source them anywhere local of course. None of the shops in my area (San Diego) were willing to give it a shot once they actually saw the hubs, so I gave a Jeep dealership a call. $150. I thought it was a bit steep, but the tech was quite gungho about being able to do it. A few hours later they gave me a call back and wouldn't let me see the hubs until I paid. I pay, and this is what they tried to give back to me! The inner seal isn't even pressed into the housing and it's unreasonably bent and warped with what looks like screwdrivers and it rotates with the hub! It's just ridiculous! The tech even said "Well it's better than what it was." And my rebuttal was "well this seal isn't going to seal anything out, so once I go thru some water it'll be just as bad in a shot time!" They say they're gonna try to get a new seal and redo it by tomorrow...
This is why the only work I trust done to my car is the work that I've done myself.

[eaglefreek]

Too many hacks out there calling themselves professionals.  I hope you get it taken care of. I know a guy who use to own a transmission shop for over 30 years. He still does some work to keep busy. He installed new gears and bearings in my front axle and did a great job. I've been meaning to get with him to see if  he would be willing to rebuild some front hubs for the members. I'll get in touch with him next week and see if he's interested.

[WhatDidIGetInto]

To be fair, he was able to rebuild the other hub just fine. Luckily it was the seal that's shared with Jeeps in the 80's, so the tech was able to rebuild his mistake with a new seal within a couple of days. It was just incredibly unprofessional of him to even consider letting a hub go out with such an obviously butchered seal on a part that definitely needs to be sealed.
Freek, you're lucky to have a dude like that around. If I had the option, I probably would've outsourced this job to a known good source via this forum.