Power Wash

Thanks to Chris McKeon for lending me his Honda Power Washer a second time to wash the axles (first time was to wash the T-18A transmission and Dana 20).  

Power washers are great to cut the grease of years of use.  Just be aware that they blast water or solvent into all the seals as well.  That being known, I always wash the items before rebuilding or refilling with gear oil.  The items that needed washing here are the axles and some of the outer Dana 30 items like the rotors and outer knuckles.  With the rotors, I didn't remove the bearing so I covered them with a plastic cup while pressure washing them (seen in the background).

I found that a good washing, followed by primer and paint works well before tearing down the item in question because a few reasons.  First, rebuilding an item or fixing something is hard to do if it's all grimy and greasy.  Second it's easier to wipe oil away after it's been rebuilt if it's been painted already.  Also the fact that you don't want to damage new seals by power washing something for painting after it's been rebuilt or worked on.

Below is the front Dana 44 ready to be power washed.  Notice the tennis ball cut in halves and stuffed into the tubes.  This was to keep as much water as possible out of the axle tube and housing.

The axles were power washed and let to sit in the sun for a while to dry.  Soon after I hit them with a coat of primer.