Cleaning axle tubes on Dana 60
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 6:14 am
Hey there,
I've done a few other types of differentials but this is my first experience with a Dana 60.
The others I did were transaxles (VW/Porsche) and older British cars. Totally different design.
What I want to do is clean out the axle tubes on the rear housing. This truck sat for decades and the axle tubes have a big load of rust/grit in the bottom half of the tube. I have pullled the axles and the differential cover. The crown/differential carrier and gears are rust free and pristine.
The axles themselves had a fair amount of oily rust flakes on them, and when I pulled the little breather assembly (The one that also bolts down the brake "T" fitting) to clean it, I stuck a screw driver down into the hole and pulled up a bunch of gunk. It is thick like putty and a mix of rust, grit, and hardened oil. Not good. And I estimate it's over 1/4 " deep at least.
I want to clean all that out, but don't want to flush it into the differential assembly if I can help it.
The easiest way to do it is to sort of approach it like cleaning a gun barrel using a "ramrod" and cleaner rags, and copious amounts of BrakeNparts cleaner spray (I've got two cases of the stuff),... But I want to avoid all that crud getting pushed into the crown/differential carrier and gears. I'd like to remove the differential carrier to do this.
Is it a major pain to remove the four large mounting bolts that hold the mounting caps on and remove the carrier?
Yes, I will take note of any shims and keep track of them and where they go.
I've tried to read up on this but the info in the manual is kinda sparse, and an online search was all over the place as to advice.
I'm mainly thinking out loud here,...and may just go the probably easier route and "shield" the differential with plastic or some such and go ahead with the axle tube cleaning,...but wondering what others might have to say about how to approach cleaning out those axle tubes...
Open to suggestions and opinions.
What say y'all?
I've done a few other types of differentials but this is my first experience with a Dana 60.
The others I did were transaxles (VW/Porsche) and older British cars. Totally different design.
What I want to do is clean out the axle tubes on the rear housing. This truck sat for decades and the axle tubes have a big load of rust/grit in the bottom half of the tube. I have pullled the axles and the differential cover. The crown/differential carrier and gears are rust free and pristine.
The axles themselves had a fair amount of oily rust flakes on them, and when I pulled the little breather assembly (The one that also bolts down the brake "T" fitting) to clean it, I stuck a screw driver down into the hole and pulled up a bunch of gunk. It is thick like putty and a mix of rust, grit, and hardened oil. Not good. And I estimate it's over 1/4 " deep at least.
I want to clean all that out, but don't want to flush it into the differential assembly if I can help it.
The easiest way to do it is to sort of approach it like cleaning a gun barrel using a "ramrod" and cleaner rags, and copious amounts of BrakeNparts cleaner spray (I've got two cases of the stuff),... But I want to avoid all that crud getting pushed into the crown/differential carrier and gears. I'd like to remove the differential carrier to do this.
Is it a major pain to remove the four large mounting bolts that hold the mounting caps on and remove the carrier?
Yes, I will take note of any shims and keep track of them and where they go.
I've tried to read up on this but the info in the manual is kinda sparse, and an online search was all over the place as to advice.
I'm mainly thinking out loud here,...and may just go the probably easier route and "shield" the differential with plastic or some such and go ahead with the axle tube cleaning,...but wondering what others might have to say about how to approach cleaning out those axle tubes...
Open to suggestions and opinions.
What say y'all?