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Got my 3/4 ton axles now what?

73K5Kid

73K5Kid

1/2 ton status
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What did you guys and gals use to clean the rust from your axles. I have searched and from what I gathered sand blasting is the best. Only problem is I do not have a sandblaster. Any other suggestions? Now for the rebuild what should I do? New brakes, drums, seals wheel cylinder kits, rotors. Gears are 4:10 and will be running 36' tires. I would like to do this as cheap as possible :rolleyes:. I want to wheel this thing just not bash it all up :doah: I have seen some nice rigs on this site go from nice paint and bodies to tube frames over the years :eek1: .
 
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I would not recommend sand blasting unless You plan on a complete rebuild. No matter what You do it will get in the housing one way or another. I did sand blast mine and it was pretty cheap. Sand was about $8 a bag and I got a cheap sand blasting gun at the parts house for like $15. I got a roll of cheap clear plastic and made a quick little booth to keep the sand from going every where. A good compressor with lots of air capacity is really needed.
 
I have done alot of restorations and personally sand blasting works great on parts that are small and parts that aren't bearing realated. After years of experimenting i have found the best thing to use is brass wire brush's and a drill motor.

Trust me....i always will sand blast when i can, especially since i have access to a big one at work, but sandblasting isn't always the best for the application.

This is a few quick shots of my front i just finished this weekend.

all.jpg
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. Looks like its brass wire brush's and a drill motor.
 
I used a grinder with a really stiff wire wheel. The drill with a wire wheel was way too slow! I got half a 14 bolt cleaned up in about two hours with a drill and it took about 15 minutes to finish the other half with the grinder. This was down to bare metal.
 
yup...

I use a 4" grinder with a "Cup" style wire wheel,or a "Needle Scaler" air tool to chip off heavy scaly rust..a sandblaster is the absolute best way,but you need a big compressor with lots of CFM's,and it does go everywhere,and makes a mess of your yard or shop..not good to let sand get blown into the bearings either!--I used duct tape or masking tape to seal off the pinion ,and other areas where sand intrusion would be a disaster...never had any seals or bearings fail that way..

I wish I had a sandblaster and a huge compressor--I'd hoist my truck up and blast the entire undercarriage, and spray bedliner on the whole underside!..
I really miss the one we had at the junkyard..we could make old rusted junk look new in minutes with that thing,and most of the time we just used sand swept off the side of the street,sifted thru an old window screen!..:crazy:
 
Good thread.

I am about to start doing this too. I am planning on buying all new brake components and taking the cover off, inspecting gears, and refilling with new oil.

I pulled my 14sf off an 88 3/4 ton. Dont know the mileage or gears cuz the interior had been stripped pretty good. It turns over smoothly. What else should I look for/replace?
 
agreed... great thread. im in the process of cleaning up my 3/4 ton gear right now. i was going to tear it all down and sandblast it but now it looks like ill just get a wire brush. thanks.
 
x8 on the grinder with wire cup. I knocked all the crud off with a bath of degreaser and a handheld wire brush then attacked it with a twisted wire cup on my grinder. I did all the little nooks around the diff with a wire cup on a drill. now is your chance to grind smooth all the little bumps on the bottomof both diff's. you won't gain a lot of clearance height wise but it will help with sliding over stuff.
 
Now is also the time to do a little shaving on the 14 bolts. If you can use a sawzall and a grinder you can shave an axle. Free and easy clearance. Kind of fun too! :D
 
the cost to rebuild drums is wayyyyyyy close to the cost of disk in the rear..and you are going to come ahead if you were to pay yourself for the extra headaches..

as of helping paul and two nights ago I hate drums now..
 
supersize75k5 said:
the cost to rebuild drums is wayyyyyyy close to the cost of disk in the rear..and you are going to come ahead if you were to pay yourself for the extra headaches..

as of helping paul and two nights ago I hate drums now..
Click to expand...

I know you can do the disks on the ff, and have seen the parts listing thread, but wouldnt it be different for a sf?
 
supersize75k5 said:
the cost to rebuild drums is wayyyyyyy close to the cost of disk in the rear..and you are going to come ahead if you were to pay yourself for the extra headaches..

as of helping paul and two nights ago I hate drums now..
Click to expand...

I don't think so unless you have to replace the drums, and even then you can get good used drums for $20 a pop. I just did the drum brakes on my 14bsf, and the cost was quite reasonable. Shoes were the most expensive part at $50 for the set. I didn't bother rebuilding the wheel cylinders since NAPA has fresh rebuilt (or new, possibly - I couldn't tell, and there was no core charge...) cylinders for $13 a pop. Finally, a hardware kit ran 8 bucks. Total cost $84. I turned my own drums, but had I had it done it would have added $20-$30 to that total. So, say $115 worst case. If wheel cylinders aren't needed, then you can get it done for under a bill. You aren't going to go a disk conversion for that kind of money.

Personally, although I like disk brakes drums are generally trouble free and they get the job done, especially the large drums on 3/4 and 1 ton axles. They aren't difficult to do. Just do one side at a time so you can refer to the other side :wink1: Or, get a repair manual that shows the assembly of the brakes. It isn't rocket science :D
 
i know ts not rocket science, the first 14 bolt I had had no brakes on it at all...so money spent and time saved was worth it,

i am just wanting the pain and bump on my nose to go away:crazy:
 
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