The Manufacturing Outlook

Clark Seals
Engineering Elastomeric Sealing Solutions for a More Reliable Future

Scott Zahn, President

For seven decades, Clark Seals has built its reputation as a precision manufacturer of elastomeric sealing solutions designed to improve equipment reliability.

Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company began when founder Randy Clark entered the sealing industry after working for a major bearing manufacturer. He established Clark Seals by supplying high-precision seals to the bearing sector, creating the foundation for a business centered on technical expertise and customer-driven solutions.

The company expanded under second-generation leadership when Scott Zahn’s father acquired the business in 1992. Clark Seals broadened its reach into large original equipment manufacturer markets, including appliances, automotive, agriculture, and industrial applications. Over time, the company developed customized seals engineered around the specific requirements of each customer’s equipment.

Engineering Performance through Customization

Clark Seals differentiates itself by treating seals as critical components rather than simple replacement parts. A failed seal can cause equipment breakdowns, making durability, consistency, and long service life essential factors for manufacturers. The company focuses on producing seals that deliver dependable performance and extend equipment operating life.

Scott Zahn, President explains, “Our focus is developing seals that last significantly longer than industry standards and are more consistently produced at that level over the life of the equipment.”

The company’s engineering approach is built around detailed application analysis. Instead of relying on standardized designs, Clark Seals evaluates numerous variables, including sealing lip geometry, spring positioning, material selection, operating conditions, and equipment factors. This allows engineers to create optimized solutions for individual applications, even when products appear similar externally.

Solving Complex Sealing Challenges

Clark Seals works closely with OEM customers to address challenges involving temperature, pressure, lubrication, shaft movement, surface conditions, and material compatibility. Its engineers analyze each application to determine the ideal combination of design characteristics and materials required for maximum performance.

Our focus is developing seals that last significantly longer than industry standards and are more consistently produced at that level over the life of the equipment.

The company also provides problem seal analysis when customers experience failures in the field. Its process includes evaluating installation procedures, reverse engineering competing products, reviewing application conditions, and examining failed seals to identify root causes. This structured approach enables Clark Seals to transform challenges into improved designs.

Advancing Materials and Technologies

Beyond rotary seals, Clark Seals has expanded its capabilities into bearing seals, mechanical seals, hydraulic seals, molded rubber products, and custom components. The company leverages expertise in elastomer materials and compression molding to support diverse customer requirements.

Material innovation remains a key focus. Clark Seals works with advanced elastomer formulations and additives to improve temperature performance, reduce friction, and enhance efficiency. These developments are especially relevant in emerging applications such as electric vehicles, where reducing drag torque is increasingly important.

A Commitment to Future Manufacturing

The company’s history of solving difficult sealing challenges includes projects requiring entirely new approaches. One notable example involved developing a specialized sealing solution for an advanced prosthetic knee application. Clark Seals created a patented design that successfully met demanding testing requirements, helping enable a technology designed to deliver more natural movement.

Today, Clark Seals continues to grow while investing heavily in domestic manufacturing capabilities. The company has expanded significantly over the past decade and is developing a state-of-the-art production facility in Tulsa to bring more high-volume manufacturing back to the United States.

Recognized as a Top Elastomeric Seals Precision Manufacturer 2026, Clark Seals represents the combination of engineering knowledge, manufacturing expertise, and customer partnership. With continued investments in innovation, advanced materials, and next-generation sealing technologies, the company remains focused on creating solutions that help manufacturers build longer-lasting and more reliable equipment. Its commitment to precision, collaboration, and innovation positions Clark Seals for continued success across markets.

Beyond Fit in Precision Seal Sourcing

A rotary seal can be one of the least expensive parts in an assembly while carrying an outsized share of reliability risk. Small dimensional drift or a poor match to shaft movement can shorten bearing life and force unplanned service. That makes purchase price a weak proxy for total exposure. The more useful question is whether a manufacturer can hold sealing behavior within a narrow window across repeated production runs while accounting for the conditions that change at the application level. For OEM programs, consistency matters because a design that performs well in validation but varies in production can create the same field problem under a different name. Dimensional fit is only the starting point. Seal geometry should be engineered around shaft speed, pressure, temperature and eccentricity rather than adapted from a near-match catalog part. Beam length and lip interference influence how a sealing lip follows the shaft or handles pressure. Spring position and contact geometry also affect friction or wear. Two assemblies using seals with similar outside dimensions may need very different internal designs. Precision manufacturers should be able to explain those differences in application terms and show how geometry is adjusted around the equipment rather than forcing the equipment into a standard seal architecture. That depth of engineering is particularly relevant when minor geometric changes alter contact behavior under load. “Clark Seals develops customized rotary and bearing seals around a 144-variable design matrix and combines geometry work with material selection for each application.” Material choice deserves the same scrutiny. NBR, HNBR, silicone and fluoroelastomers behave differently across temperature ranges and chemical environments, yet base polymer selection alone does not settle the issue. Formulation changes can affect friction and heat generation, which in turn influence service life. Manufacturing control then has to preserve the intended geometry despite material expansion, shrinkage, humidity and temperature variation. A strong supplier should connect formulation decisions to process control rather than treating material grade as an isolated specification. That distinction becomes more important in highervolume programs, where small production shifts can repeat across thousands of assemblies and make intermittent sealing problems difficult to isolate. Field failures reveal another dividing line. A useful seal partner should inspect the failed component and review installation conditions. It should then compare the existing design with an application-specific alternative. The purpose is not simply to replace a damaged part but to identify whether the failure began with material breakdown, lip geometry, installation or the surrounding shaft condition. Root-cause work is most valuable when it feeds back into the next design iteration and gives the OEM a clearer basis for qualification. That process also tests whether the supplier understands the application beyond nominal dimensions. Clark Seals merits consideration as a premier choice for OEMs that need application-specific elastomeric sealing rather than dimensional matching alone. It develops customized rotary and bearing seals around a 144-variable design matrix and combines geometry work with material selection for each application. Its engineering process also includes failedseal review and installation assessment alongside reverse engineering and application analysis when an existing design is underperforming. Clark Seals supports shaft seals and related molded rubber products while expanding U.S. production in Tulsa for higher-volume programs. For manufacturers weighing seal life against unit cost, its value lies in tying design detail to repeatable production and problem analysis instead of treating the seal as a commodity. ...Read more

Specials

The Manufacturing Outlook

Clark Seals
Engineering Elastomeric Sealing Solutions for a More Reliable Future

Our focus is developing seals that last significantly longer than industry standards and are more consistently produced at that level over the life of the equipment.

Deep Dive

Beyond Fit in Precision Seal Sourcing

Specials

The Manufacturing Outlook

Clark Seals Engineering Elastomeric Sealing Solutions for a More Reliable Future

Our focus is developing seals that last significantly longer than industry standards and are more consistently produced at that level over the life of the equipment.

Deep Dive

Beyond Fit in Precision Seal Sourcing

Clark Seals
Engineering Elastomeric Sealing Solutions for a More Reliable Future