Suspension cleaning?

[juggaloscorpio]

Getting set for this full steering/suspension overhaul but I have a question. There is a ton of dirt/grease/oil/fluid all over the under carriage of my ranger. Couldn't I just remove all the suspension/steering items and clean them by hand? Would any of you guys/gals do this? As an added bonus I would already have everything removed for inspection and replacement of all the bushings. Just never done this before but this thing seriously needs some under body cleanup done!!

FYI: I am already planning on getting an alignment done whether I do this or not just for my own satisfaction/knowledge.

 

[55trucker]

Do you have or know someone who has access to a kerosene fired hot water steam cleaner? That'll clear the junk quickly.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Hahaha no I don't but that would be nice!! I went ahead and pulled everything from the steering and suspension anyways. Glad I did because virtually every single ball joint, tie rod end, and bushing look worn out to me. Of course I was already planning on replacing them all just because. I wasn't expecting it all to be shot but whatever. Now to start the hunt for some new "knuckles/spindles/hubs" for this thing.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Follow up:

Got both spindles off and finally got the UBJ and LBJ removed. I am looking at painting the spindles but I want to see if the general concensus thinks I got them clean enough. I still need to hit it with degreaser but this is an early stage thing and not even close to painting yet. Curious though, do I need to use an adhesive promoter before the paint? I already have a blue high temp engine paint for this job that wasn't used from my Dearborn heater restore last year. Here is a pic of progress so far (pic taken before pressing out the Drivers UBJ). Passenger side was already hit with a wire wheel.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

I noticed a groove on both "snout" locations but it doesn't seem bad enough to worry about right now imo. Feedback please? Again, the dirty one is the driver side and the clean one is the passenger.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Snuck in and used the sand blaster at work haha ready for powder coating now!! And at 25$ each, that is a very fair price!!

 

[Shran]

I believe that groove is where your wheel bearing seal is located... and no, it should not be there. Usually stuff like that is solved with a thing called a speedi-sleeve, but I'm not sure they make one for this application.

I definitely would have taped off that whole area and the spindle shaft before sandblasting those! The new sanded surface is not going to help with your seal issues...

 

[juggaloscorpio]

I am talking to a member from a different site and he showed me his spindles that were powder coated and they coated all the way up to the base of the "snout" on his. The blasting was very light and I will be using some super fine sandpaper to clean it up before assembly. I am fairly confident that it will seal just fine. Really wish the previous owner would have done some type of regular maintenance on this truck.

 

[55trucker]

I noticed a groove on both "snout" locations but it doesn't seem bad enough to worry about right now imo. Feedback please? Again, the dirty one is the driver side and the clean one is the passenger.

The issue here would be the tearing away of the nitrile surface of the seal.
The coil spring in the seal will force the rubber down onto that rough surface causing it to wear out prematurely.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Unfortunately there isn't anything I can do about the groove except try to smooth it out the best I can. I will just have to deal with a lost seal down the road until I can get a new set of spindles. Right now it just isn't in the budget and these 2 units will have to work. Thank you for the heads up.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

I am going to repolish the metal where I hit it with the sand blaster to try and reduce the amount of rough surface on the snout for now.