So im in the middle of tearing apart my d44/d60 combo to rebuild. Since they both have an awesome rust/mud finish to them, i figure they should get a good cleaning b4 i take the time to sand blast em and paint em. my question is, what would be the best route to take in order to the inside of the axle tubes cleaned out? im thinking of stripping them both completely of all parts (seals, bearings, carrier, ring&pinion, etc) and bathing both axles' insides with brake cleaner.

Is there an easier method to get this job done? or do i neccessarily even need to worry about the inside of the axles? at least on that 44, the shaft were pulled before they belonged to me. The outter most part of the axle tubes have a decent bit of dryied caked up oil in them. Is this really a problem? would it be detromental to the axle or to new components to NOT clean the inside of them, or should i go ahead and get clean the insides while im cleaning the rest of it?

 

Worst case is you shove mud in your carrier when you put the axles in. I don't have the end caps for mine since I run chromos so whenever I have it apart I use my air compressor to blow the much out from the chunk outward.

 

so are you saying that the brake fluid idea isnt worth the trouble? maybe just scrape and spray as much out as i can with like a wooden dowel and my air compressor?

 

is there an engine builder in your area? or someone with a hot tank?
that would be the best way, if it is just a bare housing. no need to sandblast or anything.

 

This is probally the best way. My father in law did this with his old ford rear that hes restoring only cost $75 it was done in the same day.

 

So where exactly do you guys think would offer me such a service?
But i still cant help but think i can do it myself for a lot less. my thought is like 5 cans of brake fluid cleaner and my local DIY car wash...

 

Any decent machine shop can do this. You can DIY but I think for the time and effort it'll have a better end result the other way because it will eliminate the need for sandblasting unless you have access to a large blaster . This is just my opinion.

 

You could always get an old bath tub, fill if full of deisel and let it soak.

 

I dont think I would worry about it unless your axle is full of stuff.

 

i think im going to just go mess up a lane at the the carwash. Ill just presoak it with sum gasoline maybe, then just blast it from the diff outward with the pressure sprayer. If its as warm as it has been here lately, i may just walk it thru the auto wash

 

I hope you don't live near me. Read the side of a can of brake cleaner, it's toxic and gas isn't much better and you plan on letting it just run into the sewer which then goes into lakes and rivers. Then guess where your drinking water comes from. Hey while you're at it go ahead and bring all your old motor oil and pour it down the drain as well.

 

From what ive been told by a fellow jeeper pal of mine is that a couple local washes in our town actually filters thier drain water due to the fact that it is attached to a small auto shop and have to deal with messy oil cleanups and spills and what not.

 

Really? Geeze take everything serious. He was joking. Find a sense of humor dude

 

I don't think he was joking, people do stupid things like that in my area all the time. Go to a car wash some time and see what all people try to wash down the drain. Yet I got fined for spraying out a cement mixer in the woods behind a house I was working on.