Beware of rust in differential

[bikinkawboy]

Earlier I bought a replacement front drive axle for my project. It had been setting for long time, but not sure how long. The gears were ok, but the area of the housing above the level of gear lube had rusted, leaving little rusted chunks of cast iron everywhere. I removed the pinion shaft and ring gear and cleaned all of the rust out of the housing as well as carefully cleaning the bearings. I could feel the chunks when turning the bearing, so I know there was rust in there. I was surprised at how much rust came out of the housing even before I wire brushed the inside. I used gasoline to wash all of the lube out of the housing, wire brushed it thoroughly and then used spray carb cleaner to pressure wash everything out. After I got everything cleaned well, I spray painted the part that will be above the lube level. It appears that area was painted at the factory, so apparently my situation is nothing new.


After setting 16 years, I'm going to inspect the rear differential when I get to that end of the truck. I suspect I will find the same thing. Just something to look into on stuff that has set around unused for a long time. As big as the chunks were, I'm sure the bearings would have failed with use.

 

[demulsion]

That's why it's important to lock in the hubs and use 4wd regularly, even if you don't need it. Keeps everything lubed, and the rust at bay.