I have my intire rear end pulled from under my truck I took everything out execpt the pinion gear wich I will be doing shortly but I wanted to know what was the best way to clean the entire housing out? I went to Advanced auto and picked up a new differential gasket and asked the guy behind the counter what would be the best way to clean it, he told me to use purple power. Not really sure if it will do the trick but I picked a conister of it up anyway (figured it would be good to have around the house anyway) So for a DIY guy what would be the best/least expensive way to clean this baby up~Kyle

power washer...if its ALL coming apart... power washer then gasoline...then air

Sounds like it could work, also I was thinking of painting the the whole housing should I sand it down,or do you think a powerful aciton would do the trick?

Don't go by what you hear from Advance or Autozone. Alot of times those guys are there because they can't get a job as a real mechanic.

power washer...if its ALL coming apart... power washer then gasoline...then air
Thats what I would do, like DC said if your pulling all apart drowned it in gasoline (KEEP ALL SPARKS AWAY) and let it soak for a little bit, scrub it with a brush and then power wash the whole thing. Or just use a ton of carb cleaner :thumbup

I was at Autozone the other day to exchange a wheel bearing that I got the wrong one of and had misplaced the receipt. Damn Manager said that they could not do an exchange without a receipt.

I said bullsh!t...I took the keyboard and did it myself and said there now give me my d@mn parts.


Oh course, I neglected to tell him that I use to work at Autozone about 4 years ago....and fairlane, it is not becuase I can't get a job as a mechanic, its just that I wanted that parts discount and the extra pay. Course my paycheck went right back into the store.

purple power works ok.

Carb cleaner, brake cleaner, oven cleaner...any other STRONG degreaser works good as well. A pressure washer works FANTASTIC. I reccomend a combonation of brake cleaner and pressure washer.

Whatever you do before you paint i would spray down the whole thing with brake cleaner. The brake cleaner will take off any residue left from other cleaning chemicals, and it also evaporates pretty quick too.

Sweet good deal guys thank you and have a happy ham day

If you want to clean everything as good as it gets including removing most the paint have it hot tanked. If you don't want to go that far, take it to a car wash and stick the pressure washer right up each axle tube untill everythings cleaned out good

If you have any crusty stuff to clean off, rust, dirt, whatever, the wire wheels for grinders work wonders.

Oh course, I neglected to tell him that I use to work at Autozone about 4 years ago....and fairlane, it is not becuase I can't get a job as a mechanic, its just that I wanted that parts discount and the extra pay. Course my paycheck went right back into the store.

Oh I hear ya...I wouldn't mind working there for a little extra cash and the discount, but it's the people there who piss me off.
Not all of them are dumb, but some are as dumb as a box of rocks. They're the ones who make the rest of them look bad. ANd I'm referring to the 16-20 year olds who have no mechanical knowledge and think they know everything because they work at an auto prts store.