Vh front steering axle and bearing rusty.

[SLE 500]

Im doing the vt hub and rotor swap on my VH and my right side has rust in it.
Q: do I have to replace the whole strut or is the axle removable somehow?
I dont think I can sand and polish the arm, can I?

 

[vc commodore]

Im doing the vt hub and rotor swap on my VH and my right side has rust in it.
Q: do I have to replace the whole strut or is the axle removable somehow?
I dont think I can sand and polish the arm, can I?

How did rust get on the stub axle?

No the stub axle isn't removeable....Best bet is try and sand it with very light sand paper, providing the rust hasn't created indentations in the metal....If it has, a new strut assembley is required

 

[RACE5L]

A new strut should be easy to come by cheap. I have a few laying around just incase.

 

[Smitty]

... if the axle is not pitted from rust, it is ok to use
with a clean up (use wet and dry paper with WD 40 or kero to remove the rust)

if pitted, you will need a new strut assembly (I have seen them newies on ebay)

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

The stub axle only holds the bearings in place, nothing actually moves on it, so it doesn't matter if it's pitted or not, unless it is rusted and pitted that bad it compromises it's strength. Just clean it up with wet and dry and fit the new hub.

 

[Smitty]

The stub axle only holds the bearings in place, nothing actually moves on it, so it doesn't matter if it's pitted or not, unless it is rusted and pitted that bad it compromises it's strength. Just clean it up with wet and dry and fit the new hub.

you obviously have not seen a bad pitted stub axle.
if it is... the outer race on the bearings will move and twist
which can be rather nasty

as I found out when I bought the VK. The wheel (actually the brake rotor) was wobbling
all around, could not work it out until I disassembled the whole thing.

Rusted and pitted stub axle allowing the inner and outer bearings to move around on the axle
= large worn grooves in the axle . Which of course accounted for the wheel movement

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Would have to be pretty bad for that to happen though. I have seen rusty stub axles and have had them with some pitting, but never bad enough that the inner race of the bearing moved on it. Never on a Commodore either, early Falcons and Holdens and the odd Valiant.

 

[vc commodore]

It's a fine line between what is acceptable for depth in the pitting and what isn't. So it is always safe to err on the side of caution and bin it, especially when they are still readily available

 

[VK SL 3800]

The inner race spinning is pretty common in truck and trailer bearings that have been let come out of adjustment for a long time, you can use products like bearing mount to help the problem but if its loose enough for you to turn by hand nothing is gonna stop it spinning eventually.

I have come across some stub axles that have been center punched all over to make the bearing fit snug again, not exactly ideal but it does work pretty well.