I bought all the parts to completely overhaul both of my axles… new oil seals, gaskets, bushes and brake components etc.

First stage was to strip the axle down to bare casing as I wanted to rub it down and paint it.

When I took my diff out… I found the cause of the stranfe knocking noise coming from the rear of the vehicle as I went round a corner. 2 teeth had chipped off one of the planetry gears… rendering the diff scrap basically.

 

Thankfully we had a spare axle in storage… so the diff was removed from that axle as a donor.

Next stage was to rub down the axle casing and all the components using a cup brush on the grinder.

This was followed by a light wash down and a degrease… then a good coat of red oxide primer.

After allowing that to dry over night… I gave everything a coat of synthetic black top coat.

Next step… reassembly.
I replaced all the gaskets and oilseals as I went. I also sourced new bolts. I wanted everything to be bright zinc plate finish… both for aesthetics and practicality.

I fitted new wheel bearings, oil seals, hub nuts and lock washers whilst I was at it.

The cost of the 3/8 unf bolts for the halfshaft gave me a bit of a shock… so I had an ingenious idea… I cleaned up my original bolts and had the company next door to where I work bright zinc plate them for me… oh the joys of knowing an electroplater haha.

After the axle was fully reassembled I filled it with the correct amount of diff oil… and then decided that I may aswell make and fit the new brake pipes and clean up the t piece.