On a 2002 prairie 650, the rear axle has (2) seals on each side of the swingarm/final drive. WHY?
Why is it necessary to have two seals in the same location? It is my observation that if the inner seal fails, you won't realize it until the outer seal shows signs of leakage. On the other hand, if the outer seal fails, you won't know that you have mud, ect. packed in between the two seals until it has ground your seal bearing surface to a pulp and you won't see signs of it nor be able to remove the grit until the inner seal fails as well.
I my humble opinion, this is a design flaw that probably extends across all models of Kawasaki that use this axle.
My suggestion would be to delete one of the seals. It should not be necessary to have two seals back to back if either one of them is doing their job.
This is based on the fact that I have just seen the result of the outer seal failing, allowing mud and grit to become trapped between the two seals and grinding a deep groove in the axle at the sealing surface. This necessitated installing aftermarket seal sleeves on the axle, and had it not shown signs of leaking, could have penetrated the ring gear case causing much more expensive damage.
Has anyone else noticed this problem with the double seals?