prepping axle for restoration q's

[coggonbrien]

hey folks,

i'm in the middle of completely tearing down my second blaster for restoration. the axle assembly is completely tore down for bearings, seals, grease, etc. my question is the axle itself is kind of grimy nasty. how do you prep for reassembly and clean it up. sandblasting ok?

Thanks,
David

 

[Blaner]

you need to inspect the bearing seats very carefully, are they rusted? if you slide on a new bearing, does it fit tightly onto the seat or is it loose and does it wobble?

if it does you need to either get a new axle or what i do is send them in to a place that does hard chroming. they specialise in hydraulic shafts for bull dozers etc. the axle is submerged in a bath of special liquid and an anodizing process bonds the chrome case onto the axle seats, then the guy turns it down in a lathe to the right size, he also straightens any bends while he is at it.

I wouldnt suggest sandblasting, or at least not the two bearing seats.