Another IMS question
 

I'm curious about a comment in Waynes article about leaving the outer seal off the bearing as it fills with oil anyway. I pulled the seal off mine and the bearing seems to have the same engine oil in it and it's in excellent condition ( oil and bearing). What is the currant thinking, is this a viable option? I only drive about 6,000 mi. a yr. if that.

There are many theories on how IMSBs fail.

One credible one goes like this. The stock Porsche IMSB bearing is sealed. When the seal develops a leak, a small amount of oil gets inside the bearing and mixes with the grease. When this happens both the grease and the oil lose their lubricating properties. This eventually leads to IMSB failure from friction.

If the leak were large enough to wash out the grease from the bearing so that afterward the bearing was lubricated by oil alone, then the belief if that the IMSB wouldn't fail or at least not nearly as soon. For this reason, people recommend removing the original seals on ISMBs so there is enough oiling to lubricate the bearing.

BTW: LN Retrofit bearing are unsealed.