Vintage Don
Well Oiled
This is kind of related to my "Front Axle Rebuild" string postings of the last couple days. Today I decided to clean out the axle housings. That's the only thing I haven't gotten sparkling clean on this front axle rebuild yet. I pondered how to go about this little bit of unpleasantness, and finally decided to take a 3 foot piece of 1/2" pipe, wrap the end with a paper towel securely taped down (it would NOT be cool if it came loose way back in there! I'd never get it out). And I soaked gasoline into the paper towel as a solvent. Then I played "clean the cannon barrel with the ram rod" for about 40 minutes. I spent most of that time changing out the paper towel, because it quickly got gummed up. There is a lot of old goo in there.
(Of course, it would probably be a lot easier if I removed the ring and pinion and innards - but I am hoping to avoid that, since everything is nice and tight and clean, no metal chips in the oil or anything. And it turns silky smooth, no slop, gears are good. I'm thinking it might be the only significant component on the whole vehicle that I might actually get away with not rebuilding.... oh, I'm sure the seals are going to leak, but I'm OK with that for now. You should see the rest of the truck!)
After that 40 minute exercise, I shined the flashlight in there - and it looked pretty much the same as it did when I started.....
So then I started asking myself - why am I even doing this? Is there any good reason that it should be clean inside the axle housing? It's just that - a housing. The axle doesn't actually touch it anywhere, and you can't see it when it's together. What do you think? Worth doing?
And if you think it IS worth doing - do you have any ideas on how to do it BETTER? It seems like I need something spinning, like a little wire brush with a 3 foot long handle, and stick it in my drill......
Just for your enjoyment, here's a couple photos of my "ram rod" effort. (Scramboleer, there's that other soup can in use, too!)
(Of course, it would probably be a lot easier if I removed the ring and pinion and innards - but I am hoping to avoid that, since everything is nice and tight and clean, no metal chips in the oil or anything. And it turns silky smooth, no slop, gears are good. I'm thinking it might be the only significant component on the whole vehicle that I might actually get away with not rebuilding.... oh, I'm sure the seals are going to leak, but I'm OK with that for now. You should see the rest of the truck!)
After that 40 minute exercise, I shined the flashlight in there - and it looked pretty much the same as it did when I started.....
So then I started asking myself - why am I even doing this? Is there any good reason that it should be clean inside the axle housing? It's just that - a housing. The axle doesn't actually touch it anywhere, and you can't see it when it's together. What do you think? Worth doing?
And if you think it IS worth doing - do you have any ideas on how to do it BETTER? It seems like I need something spinning, like a little wire brush with a 3 foot long handle, and stick it in my drill......
Just for your enjoyment, here's a couple photos of my "ram rod" effort. (Scramboleer, there's that other soup can in use, too!)