Cleaning Axles
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7/18/2005 To properly clean the axles you should plan to remove them. There are many nooks and crannies for dirt and oil to collect. I created these braces below (Idea from Darryl D on the G503 website). These allow you to pick up and place on tables. Note: If you make these axle braces size them to sit where your springs are. I didn't realize this till after the fact.
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7/18/2005 You need to take the brake drums off of the Axle in order to check the bearings and brakes. I had to soak the bolts with penetrating oil for them to break.
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7/18/2005 Before you can remove the nut holding the shafts, you have to bend back this washer. I used a screwdriver and tapped it with a hammer so that it was flat again.
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7/18/2005 You will need this large socket to remove the nut that holds the shafts in the axle. I purchased mine from Ron at G503.com for about $10. Fits perfect and makes it easy to remove the two nuts on the inside of the brake drum.
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7/18/2005 If your axles are loaded with grundge like mine, you might want to use a needle scaler to help get into to tough areas to knock big stuff off.
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7/18/2005 Once you clear off some of the grundge you can take the axle cover plate off. You want to remove these pieces so you can clean them with a wire brush or sand blast.
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7/18/2005 Once you remove the first nut on the brake drum, the drum will slide off. You will have two sets of bearings, both on the front and back. I used my finger to pull out the front, but the back was snug. I took the large socket and tapped with a piece of wood in order to get the bearings out on the back side
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7/18/2005 At this point I installed a wire brush on my grinder, and drill. I removed all the paint with my wire brush and in the areas I could not reach with my grinder, I pulled out the drill.
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7/18/2005 Many areas where bolts are for the cover plate, the grundge is packed in. I used a small screwdriver to removed it. I used solvents and air to help blow it all out.
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7/18/2005 My father came down for a visit to help me with this phase, he had just completed cleaning his axles on his 43 GPW (jarheadjeep.com). Here you see him going back and forth on the axle removing all the paint. I chose not to sandblast because of the mess, and I wanted to keep sand out of the gears and feared I would not be able to if I blasted.
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7/18/2005 While everything is off, I replaced my brakes. Before painting, you want to make sure you brakes and bearings are good, otherwise, after painting you may have to redo this again.
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7/18/2005 While axles are ready for painting, I have to repack the bearings and put it all together so I can prime them
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7/18/2005 I placed the bearing back in the drum and greased it. Now its ready to reassemble.
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7/18/2005 Now that it is assembled, and cleaned, we tack rag it by wiping diluted Xylene on the axle.
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7/18/2005 With everything ready to go and clean, you can now primer your axle and drums.
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7/18/2005 Finish painting with OD, when dry, install the brake lines and you are ready to re-install again.
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