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Best way to clean/degrease old axle housings

rpraterxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lake Forest, CA
I did a search, but did not find what I am looking for.

What is the best way to get the axle housings clean? I am tearing apart a couple of axles out of 87 and they are caked with grease, dirt, and grime. I started out using just a scraper. I don't have a way to easily transport these things nor do I own a pressure washer.

I am open to ideas.

Thanks,

Robert
 
Degreaser from Autozone is cheap, plus a stiff brush and a regular ole garden hose.
Shouldn't be too bad.
 
I would use a basic solvent and take a paintbrush and clean it up if you got any tough spots let the solvent soak in and do its job, then use a tooshbrush or wire brush. Wipe it out good or rinse it out depending on the solvent used. I use this method on all greasy parts that need cleaned and it works great.

TORX
 
O.D. said:
scrape the big stuff off and then a wire wheel on an angle grinder.

and WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!

wire wheels on agle grinders are easy ways to loose vision
 
Deisel fuel,cheap and easy.
 
another vote for oven cleaner. Get the foamy kind and it will do most all the work for you. Spray it on and let it sit for a while then just hose it off and viola.
 
wire wheel for the big chunks o stuff
palm sander for the finer stuff
then clean it all with brake cleaner before you paint it...
 
I usually use a pressure washer on the trucks at work, it takes it down to the metal, but theres a film you can get with degreaser after that
 
Strip everything out of them. Take em to Currie, I think its now up to 140$ each, but they look brand new steel when you get them back. They first tank em, then steel abrate them. Literally they look like a brand new housing after.

Just a thought.
 
A cheap pressure washer will do a wonder on them. Sure you could wire wheel and brake clean but that is slower, more expensive, and more messy. If you have access to a garden hose, the $79.99 one from HF will work just fine.
 
another vote for oven cleaner. Get the foamy kind and it will do most all the work for you. Spray it on and let it sit for a while then just hose it off and viola.

then you play a small stringed instrument around it singing about it's cleanliness?

more seriously, brake cleaner and wire wheel. X2 on the glasses. Been there done that. Won't go without them again.
 
You all do realize this thread is from 2006 right?

With that, I use a heated pressure washer if bad enough, but in most cases industrial brake cleaner and wire wheel and flap disc, with safety glasses or face shield of course.

Fortunately I build more new assemblies these days than used ones, but we still do a lot of 8.8s and HP D30s, and they keep getting worse and worse to clean as they age!
 
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