Rusty Dana 25 Axel Sphere

Well, I was looking over my 1943 MB. I have had this jeep stored in the barn at my mothers old farm stead for the last 40 or so years. I have not started it in about 10 years. I noticed the Dana 25 front axel spheres were both somewhat rusty from sitting so long without the wheels being turned any. Thought I would remove the seals and clean off the rust first so not to ruin my seals. Thought about a flapper disc but I was worried I might create flat spots, hand sanding looks like lots of work with them having quite a bit of rust. Any suggestions on cleaning/polishing them?

 

I’d probably start with a wire hand brush and some elbow grease.

If that fails, they sell felt flapper discs for angle grinders which should be gentle enough to not cause any flat spots.

 

I’d use a wire wheel on a drill then finish up by hand.

 

X2 Wire wheel on drill
Pressure wash
Electrolysis
Drag it through a sandbox
The scouring wheels on an angle grinder would work but likely not ergonomic if the axle is on the jeep.

 

Ah, wire wheel, I did not think of that, I am hoping there are no deep rust pits on there.
I should be ashamed of my self for letting it sit so long, But life happens. At least I poured some motor oil down the carb when shutting it down last time. The motor turns free now. And it was stored in a completely dry space. Maybe try to start it up soon.

 

The axle is still on the jeep, thought about my small hand held sand blaster, but I would probably get sand all in the knuckle grease. I will likely end up removing the knuckle and axles and plugging the tubes to keep cleaning grit from contaminating the rest of the axle.

 

Are they for polishing and so on? while using a compound with them.

 

They come in different grits like sand paper does. Some are fairly aggressive and will remove material that you probably want to keep on those balls. The finer grit would probably be fine and might be what I would choose after the wire wheel work was done.

I had a few nicks in my axle ends ( I was gonna go with "balls" but thought better of it ) and, after the polishing was done, I filled them with JB Weld and sanded smooth with very fine sand paper. Been holding up well so far after several years.

 

Something like this.......

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40064865/

 

, That is what I was gona go with in my post title because I was not sure how to spell "sphere" But I figured I would get " black balled " and cast off the forum. So I looked up the spelling.

 

Thanks for the recommendation and link..

 

I thought the little dimples were for better lubrication of the... spheres allowing a metered amount past for faster


I gotta stop there.

 

Get some Naval Jelly, clean the grease off of the balls (yeah, but I don't care), brush on the jelly and let is do its thing. Then clean it with rags and mineral spirits. A little pitting won't hurt anything, and if you use the right lubricant, something that keeps the balls wet but doesn't leak past the seals, it will take care of itself.

 

The pitting itself will create leaks. They are cavities that will allow the lubricant to leak out. The whole purpose of a seal, whether rubber, nitrile, felt, or leather, or any other material, is to be able to seal against a smooth surface. Imperfections to that surface creates channels for leaks, a surface the seal cannot perform its function, and every time the seal moves across the rough edge of the imperfect surface it damages the seal. Doesn’t matter whether low speed or fast speed. Would you install a wheel bearing hub and new seal on a seal surface rust pitted spindle? No different.

 

No I wouldn't, but we aren't talking about a wheel bearing seal.

Certainly severe pitting on the knuckle would be a problem that needed to be addressed, but I still say a "little" pitting won't hurt anything and will take care of itself. The knuckle "seal", sometimes called a "wipe", is designed to allow lubricant to coat the ball, if it were a perfect seal the ball would be dry and subject to perpetual rust.

 

Thanks for everyone's replies and varying opinion's. Gives me a lot to think about.
I am going to bring this discussion a little farther. What type of wipe seals do you use, or which is best? there appears to be seals made of different types of materials, rubber, nitrile, felt, or even leather that was probably what the older original seals were made of.,, Thanks Jim

 

The leather seals were probably introduced during WW2 due to the rubber shortage resulting from Japan controlling Burma. I don't know if you can even get those nowadays.

I prefer the felt seals, others probably prefer the rubber or nitrile seals. I like the felt because it wipes a film of lubricant onto the ball. The lubricant used in the knuckle needs to be thin enough to flow while still being thick enough to prevent too much getting past the seals, which it will do no matter which type seal is used.

 

A wire wheel was my first thought when I cleaned mine up, but I had a fair amount of pitting once the rust was gone. I decided to take the risk and try out the flap disk. It turned out pretty well. I got the surface nice and smooth and it doesn't leak. Of course there is always a thin film on the surface but I think that is desired. Not enough to drip or build up.

I used the standard seal setup which is a rubber ring with a layer of felt over it, both of which are held in place by the sheet metal cover.
Crown knuckle seal

 

The flip side of that is that film collects dirt/sand and can accelerate wear. That probably causes more wear than running them dry, at least if your running isn't all on pavement. No free lunch. Sort of akin to people oiling down steel winch cable. IMO, another bad idea for the same reason.