Rear Axle; How Rusty is "Too Rusty"

[tcbaklash]

My rear axle is rusting to the point where I'm getting flakes peeling off. It's mostly localized on the rear of the differential cover and I can already tell that the first thing to go wrong will be the brake cable guide when it falls off (not the end of the world though). When I'm finished fixing some things up in the front, I want to do some off-roading. Does this mean I should consider replacing the axle?

I'm trying to figure out what is most cost and time effective but I'm really not knowledgeable about working on running gear. I'd like to put in a lunchbox locker and fix one of the rear drum seals, but I don't know if it's worth doing until I do something about the axle. But I'm hesitant to store an entire axle and do this work at my current place.

Any advice?

 

[jhguth]

hit it with a wire brush and see what it looks like when the flakes are off. if it's just surface stuff you're fine, if it's degraded any of the mounts or anything it's not. after you clean it up and scrape off the loose rust you can use something like POR-15 to prevent additional rust and make it look better.

 

[WeakSauz]

Oh man that's nothing.

Wire wheel bit on a drill, and paint- it'll look good as new!

I would just check the suspension mounting points/welds out, as the previous poster mentioned

 

[CathyB]

Oh, it's a pity.
My husband try to solve something in our car, but as a result, we buy a new one:cry2:
_________________________________
Cathy, writer at https://gradesfixer.com/

 

[CookieRoe]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with that differential. Little surface rust, nothing else. BUT yes, keep on eye on the small collateral bits (brake guide).

 

[dreyday]

I'm happy I don't live in a humid environment, because that looks like bad rust.

I do have friends on the east coast and up north that have quite a bit of rust, but it's not bad.

Drill and a wire brush, clean it up nicely and spray it down to prevent further corrosion .

 

[T4R2014]

Rust?