paint or grease in axle tube

Hi...

I am rebuilding my Dana 30 front axle. In order to minimize rust inside the tubes, should it be painted inside, or simply greased well?

How about the axles themselves, paint of coat with grease?

near as I can tell mine have never been painted. there is some rust inside.


Thanks

Cherokees rust in California ? :shocked:

The interior of the tubes needs nothing, the outside should be painted.

If you really want to clean it out, you can make a flue brush from braided cable and chuck it up in a drill. I've made them up to three feet long to clean oil galleries in blocks.

Insulated cable is best, just trim the sheath back about the radius of the circle you want, then bend the strands out with pliers and spin. You can also oil up a rag, wrap the brush, and use that to spin it to the bottom and back of the tube, but that will attract dirt, as would grease. Paint would be fun because of the wall effect, I'd just leave it clean.

I just welded a wire brush on to a length of steel rod and used a drill. Cleaned up the inside and put a good bit of paint down. This helps all the crap wash out and you wont get super scale that you push into the axle when you pull the shafts for any reason.

Toilet brushes work pretty well too.