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Shiny new axle...

G

goldwing2000

Guest
So I finally got some pictures of my freshly-built front axle.

Here's the before pic:
chevy8lug2.JPG


And here's after:
Front_axle.JPG


Mmmmm... powder-coated lusciousness. :D
 
hunterguy86 said:
Nice!

Are you gonna go crossover in the future?
Click to expand...

Probably not. I'm not a hard-core wheeler but I AM a cheap bastard. :D

I use it more for towing than for wheeling. I already have a raised steering arm but if anything, I'll get a drop pitman arm and call it a day.
 
Did you powdercoat the surface of the knuckle & bottom of the steering arm where they meet? If you did you might want to pull the steering arm off and polish them back to bare metal.

That surface is ment to have a direct metal to metal contact patch to promote friction. If you paint or powder coat them the arm can slip & break the steering arm studs off. This may not be as much of a problem since you don't have crossover but I am not 100% sure if it is bad or ok. I know in crossover it is a big no no.

Looks good by the way though.

Harley
 
Hossbaby: Nope... steering connection is clean metal with lots of anti-sneeze on it.

BUDDYRAMMIT: The powder-coating place sand-blasted it. That's why I like using them. Saves me a TON of work cleaning things up.

gmcburb1965: True enough. But for $192, I got it completely cleaned up and protected for life. That seems like a decent bargain to me!

mrk5: Thanks!

edit: I think I'm gonna downsize those pics a bit. I hate scrolling sideways.
 
Anti-sieze on the bolts or the surface too? The bolts are ok to have anti-sieze on but anything that can act as a lubricant is probably a bad idea in that spot.

The powdercoat looks awesome. I wish I would have been able to have that done to my axle before they were installed. They barely got a black coat of rustoleum & some orange on some of the other parts. With all the gunk, rock contacts, & road grim you can hardly tell I even tried to make it look good. :crazy:

Harley
 
Anti-seize on the surfaces, too. Just enough to keep them from rusting together. A thin film of lubricant isn't a problem, since friction doesn't keep the arm in place. That's the job of the cone washers!
 
It's nice having a world-class powder-coating shop just around the corner. :D
 
goldwing2000 said:
Anti-seize on the surfaces, too. Just enough to keep them from rusting together. A thin film of lubricant isn't a problem, since friction doesn't keep the arm in place. That's the job of the cone washers!
Click to expand...

Yes, but the friction keeps the arm from shearing the studs. The cone washer ensure the arm won't loose its friction preload even if the nuts come off. Kina like the design of a lugnuts taper.
 
No offense but I seriously doubt that a thin film of lubrication is going to make the difference between shearing off Grade 8, 9/16" fine thread studs or not.

The cone washers are not lock washers to maintain preload. That's what the lock nuts are for. The cones are there to eliminate lateral movement of the arm.
 
what did you do with the rotors? just the outside surface? looks good. im a cheap bastard too, i just spray painted my chit with no prep work (i used undercoating) and it looks decent :)
 
Scuff-sanded the shiny bits, painted the entire thing with high-heat paint (heavy on the non-braking surfaces, light on the braking surfaces) and then let the brake pads wear off the paint where they made contact. I figured that was the best way to get the most coverage.
 
Its your call on the anti-seize but I am just trying to promote the safe thing here. I doubt you will have a problem with it especially since you don't have crossover. I am just trying to point out a potential problem with something that is somewhat important like steering.

Think of it this way. No lube is like your tires sticking to dry pavement. With lube is like your tires are trying to stick to wet pavement. They still stick but not as well. The thing trying to stick your tires to the pavement is constant just like the cone washers, your 5,000lb truck which doesn't change, just the amount of traction you get does.

This pic is of my steering studs. The was not a failure due totally to lube but it was a factor.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1149207763053352602WskNYA?vhost=rides
 
Okay, the cone washers make a zero clearance out of a bolt and a hole. There is always a little wiggle and lug nuts and cone washers remove that wiggle. The studs create a clamping force on the arm. This creates the friction that allows the arm to stay attatched.

Do what ever you want, but I know how it was designed to be done.
 
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