How to refurb an old axle

[will4x4]

Hi I have an old 90 axle 24 spline but it's got a lot of surface rust inside and out as the diff has not been on. What is the best way to rub this back, as its easy to do the outer casing with a grinder but not sure how to get down the axle tubes? I don't really want to go down the route of paying someone to sand blast it.

Thanks in advance

will

[tonka]

when i did mine i had them blasted. for the £40 it cost to have them both done it was well worth it. especially as there are loads of nooks and crannys that you need to get into. to do it with a grinder/wire brush etc would take hours to get the same level of clean.

[will4x4]

yeah might be worth it then, who would do that sort of thing, who did you approach?

thanks

[LandyLee]

Look in your yellow pages or do a search for a local shot/bead blasting company. It surprised me to find 3 or 4 around me that I didn`t know about. Talk to them and you`ll usually find them already cleaning quite a few car parts for private customers

[gruntus]

I had mine shot blasted, I kept the diff in place but removed the half shafts and stub axles stuffed the ends of the axles with rags soaked in EP90 (to stop any ingress of shot etc)and bolted on thick ply blanks at the flange ends.

Note: If your diffs or casing are paper thin any shot/sand might blow a hole and get into your casing/diff, if this is the case remove your diff and make a ply blank for that as well.

HTH

Cheers

G

[bobed90]

In the past i have cleaned out the tubes with a wire brush attachment for a drill. I had to extend the shaft, which i did just by welding a bit of tube onto the end. I shot blasted the outside of the axle my self with a kit purchased from machine mart as i had quite a few bits to do so worked out cheaper. If you do it yourself make sure you seal off the area you are in but either wear breathing mask/filter and have good ventilation as its very dusty. Also wear a hood otherwise you will be pulling bits of shot out of your hair for a month .