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General Any tips for rust-"proofing" the back axle?

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General Any tips for rust-"proofing" the back axle?

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Mousendahouse

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As the title says, i am looking for some tips on prolonging the life of my back axle. Read around here that it is quite prone to rust. Do any of have some advice for keeping it good and strong for the years to come! Preferably some d.i.y (y)
Thank you in advance!
 
Mousendahouse said:
As the title says, i am looking for some tips on prolonging the life of my back axle. Read around here that it is quite prone to rust. Do any of have some advice for keeping it good and strong for the years to come! Preferably some d.i.y (y)
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

Its far from rocket science..

Less involved than a cambelt..
or even CV boot

Just need a means to safely elevate and support the vehicle

SEARCH on here is very good

You can search your term.. and narrow it down to panda.. tech talk.. 500 or whatever you choose

Charlie
 
I bought this kit from rustbuster for my mx5 restoration: https://www.rust.co.uk/product/chassis-restoration-value-pack-bright-red--257

That stuff will last, but it is not cheap, but cheaper than for example POR15. You can use normal spray can stuff, like zincspray, and a paint on top, but it will not last. Hammerite is especially worthless, as it is not water tight like a primer.

For grinding the axle down, or the spring cups at least, I will use an angle grinder with rotating steel brushes. I plan on doing this to my Panda too, when the weather changes :)
 
testacorsa said:
For grinding the axle down, or the spring cups at least, I will use an angle grinder with rotating steel brushes. I plan on doing this to my Panda too, when the weather changes :)
Click to expand...


I would stay with de.rusting..

Grinding anything down could easily have a detrimental effect on structural integrity
 
You can slow down the rust by attacking it with angle grinder and steel wire cup brush. But its a filthy job and you are likely to get covered in rusty dust and will be lucky if craps doesn't get into your eyes. You will never clean out the deep rust so it will return.

The alternative is to scrape off the layers of flaking rust then treat it with a water dispersing product that can soak into the surface. Ive had success with chain saw oil thinned with white spirit but would not suggest its THE solution.

My solution was to remove the axle and take for grit blasting and zinc metal spray. Total cost £80 job done. Yes it is overkill and I was without the car for a few days, but its done and dusted with no filthy mess to clear up and no health risks. Also consider hot dip galvanise.

Powder coat is another high cost option but it wont stop the deep set rust any better than paint.
 
Wouldn't that only be it the metal got very hot?
The link chris3234 provided, shows exactly the setup I usually use, and the metal can get warm, but not hot if you are a bit careful, especially with something thicker than sheet metal.
Your solution DaveMcT is ideal to me, but the downtime is the problem for me
 
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testacorsa said:
Your solution DaveMcT is ideal to me, but the downtime is the problem for me
Click to expand...

I had to think about it for a while, but having swapped the axle in my wife's car (fitted a nearly new used Fiat 500 axle), realised that simply painting an axle off the car is a big (and messy) task. It's also not cheap as the decent paints are not low costs.

I also replaced the brake pipes and short hoses with a braided hoses from brake to chassis connector. 600mm long hose with four captive grommets do the job nicely.

I chose to paint over the zinc metal spray using etch primer and Hammerite. It wasn't really necessary but gives a smoother finish.
 
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Our Becky (2010 1.2 Panda dynamic eco) has noticeable rust on the rear spring pans but the rest of the axle looks not too bad - still quite strong.

P1070274.JPG

P1070276.JPG

Over the last couple of years I've read most of the posts on here about how best to tackle this problem. I like the idea of zinc spraying or hit dip galvanizing but it's a lot of work and substantial amounts of money. After a great deal of thought I've decided I'm going to jack her up nice and high, remove the two lower shocker bolts (with fingers crossed they are not corroded solid) Remove the springs and, because they are quite corroded, probably buy new ones for reassembly, and power wash the axle. After it's dried I may need to give it a bit of a scrape/wire brush to dislodge as much loose rust as possible. I may also drill out the water drain holes in the pans to facilitate water drainage. Depending on how it looks I may use a rust converter before then applying waxoyl.

I have quite a bit of experience with this product (got a 5 litre tin in the shed right now) so I know this won't completely stop the rust, and it will need recoating from time to time, but it should slow the rusting down. When the inevitable comes about I'm going to buy one of those pattern made axles (was it you PB who did this and reported reasonable satisfaction with the outcome?) I think I'll stay with a standard axle when I do this though and not do the later axle conversion as this car only does about 2, maybe 3,000 miles a year running round the town and it's just fine the way it is.
 
Zinc spraying isnt costly but its a pain in the bits to get done as the axle has to come off the car. Chip off the bigger rusty crud and soak the metal in a good quality water dispersant and corrosion protector. WD40 does the former but has no long term protection. ACF-50 is a good protectant.
 
I'm a fan of Action Can products (their anti-sieze paste and degreasers are great stuff)

This sounds ideal
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PACK-500ML-Supertrol-Anti-fluid/dp/B00PNKJSQ4

Chip off any flaking rust and soak it with this penetrating fluid. It may need a few goes to cover any dry areas and an annual top-up to keep the clag at bay..

If you decide to go to braided brake lines, Cut the rubber hose and screw the fragment off the flare nut. Now warm the nut with a gas lighter to soften the pipe plastic coating and it will loosen without twisting the pipe. Use an copper paste on the now bare metal pipe end to keep the weather out.
 
I wire brush the worst of the rust ff, ( i can get under the car without jacking it up) then aerosol spray waxoyl and a top coat of stone chip on it every summer, each year i keep getting less and less that i have to wire brush or prep in that manner each year although i do clean it with kerosene and it dry before i spray anything onto it.

I also pop some ACF50 inside the spring cups every 3 mths or so.
 
I used Waxoyl underneath the mudguards on a classic motorbike. Job done?

5 years later, dry red rust was lurking under the coating. Thankfully the bike was dry stored so no harm done. Impressed? Not!

If it's already rusted, Waxoyl will simply sit on the top. Pointless IMO. Something that soaks in (e.g. ACF-50 or the product I suggested) will soak through surface rust and arrest ongoing corrosion.
 
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Yep I'm a fan of ACF-50 works well. My Fiat Coupe has went through an extensive restoration & is locked up in my garage, I will be getting the beastie up on ramps & spraying this stuff all over the underside. At the moment it's practically brand new underneath. I recently have had major surgery myself & I'm taking some time to recover. Come Spring/Summer hopefully I can tackle this wee project.
 
dante giacosa said:
Hey Jim!

Greetings from Edinburgh!!

Surely Joe will have taken care of all that underneath? You won't need to touch it surely?

Glad to hear you are on the mend, too!

JimP
Click to expand...

Hi Jim, well it was Joes idea to do this. In doing so, as Joe said you want to keep it in new condition because of our Scottish roads & all the salt what have you. Another barrier to keep the underneath corrosion free as possible.

How's things by the way?
 
A liquid anti corrosion like ACF-50 or Action Can could be over-coated with Waxoyl or even thinned chain saw oil after the first coat is allowed to settle and soak in. I've not tested the idea, but they are all oil based so should be ok.

ACF is very fluid. Use too much and the excess just runs off. So don't park on a nice block concrete driveway. Not for a while anyway. ;)
 
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