2 quick unrelated questions

[GyroLandy]

1. I have Hi-Tuff (Maxi-drive) axles in my Defender. Took them out of the diff and they have surface rust in a few areas. I sanded it down bu should I leave as is and stick them back treat somehow?

2. Where is the best place to get proper recovery points for the front of my Defender that I can bolt on?

[steveG]

Any time I've taken axles out they've had a film of oil over them so no rust.
I'd just smear a light coat of grease over yours - something like wheel bearing grease should be fine.
I would also check that the diff oil looks nice and clean and not milky etc with water in it.

Steve

[goingbush]

Question is did the axles have surface rust when installed , if not how did they get rusty.

I hope youve checked your oil to make sure it hasnt got water in it.

it should be a clear honey colour, if it looks emulsified (milky grey or yellow) you have more to be concerned about than surface rust on axles,

no you dont need to treat them. Usually all the parts inside the diff will be bare metal.

somone else may be able to help with Q2

[spudboy]

For Q2: Go to ARB and get a couple of heavy duty hooks. They bolt onto the chassis with longer bolts where you take off the tie-down hooks (you have to buy new much longer bolts to go all the way through the chassis - and drill out the tie-down hook holes a bit). It's a one hour exercise.

I've got these on my PUMA and on my Disco - no problems.

http://www.icon-auto.com/online_shop/images/bushranger%20tow%20hook.jpg

[Rick Fischer]

Rust on the axles - As I recall axles are "soft" centred and for a better description case hardened (toughened) on the outside. If the "case" is compromised an axle will fail.

Is it just surface rust or is it what is known as "pitting corrosion"? Clean it off and check with a 15X. If there is any pitting it will need to be gently blended out over a few inches very smoothly using a smooth file and then polishing with emery. Any pitting is what is known as a "stress raiser", and it will be the point at which a fatigue crack will initiate. As a rule of thumb, the stronger,tougher, harder the steel, the faster a crack will propagate. Even if it doesn't appear to be anything other than surface rust, polish it off.

Cheers

RF