Front axle cleanup

[hobiesbestfriend]

I got a front axle given to me and it's been outside for a while. It came dismantelled and pretty messy, but with knuckles and spindles etc.... I will be buying a rebuild kit,(best price/quality?) I will need to also buy axleshafts/birfs and new hubs. Most of it is standard rust on the housing etc and will be dealt with. My concern is in cleaning up the knuckle ball (chalice?). What should I use to clean it up and make sure it's still in a useable shape/condition? Also, will be beefing it up and building it as strong as I figure I'll ever need it to be, thern just swapping it into my truck. At that time, I'll do the crossover/hi-steer swap. So:

Axles-seems to be a heated discussion out there as to who or what is the better replacement for stock birfs? I will more than likely never have bigger than 35's, but only have 33's for now on my stock axle.

Seals
Bearings
Hi-steer kit w/arms
6 stud knuckle?- Is this just for really big tires? I like the idea of being that strong, but is it really a necessary upgrade?
Armor- A gussset to help strengthen the top is cheap and easy, but what else is worthwile. It doesn't have any bearing on tire size or engine power so I figure other than weight, can't go wrong beefing up everything.

 

[ajfriz]

There are quite a few birfield replacements that are stronger than stock. The most popular is of course the longfield. If you are only running 33s I think the stockers will be fine. I have 35s and the stock birfs have taken a huge beating and haven't broken yet.
For the knuckle rebuild I would go with marlins kit. I just bought one ($75) and it uses oem bearings. A lot of other kits use chinese bearings that suck. My buddy has rebuilt his axle 5 times using trail-gear and inchworm kits. They both use lower quality bearings.

 

[beatdown83fj60]

If the knuckle ball has rust on it, just clean it up with some fine emery cloth or super fine sandpaper. If it is pitted I've seen people slather JB weld all over them and sand them down round and smooth again. Kind of like bondo.

 

[hobiesbestfriend]

So if necessary, I could just tack weld and file? I guess it's just to make sure everything seals up right?

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Under ideal conditions (No blown inner axle seal) the wiper is only keeping in the grease.... So if it's not really bad, just clean it up and run it! Longs are $$$ but you'll never ever have to worry again. And if you get the inner hub gear to go with them they are lifetime warrenty I believe.