Sandblasting axle housings?

[Dep]

I want to clean up my axle housings. If i have them sandblasted, will i have an issue of sand getting inside? they"re still assembled.

 

[mriplaybass]

When I did mine, I plugged the vent tube and blasted away. If your axle and pinion seals are bad, sand can get past them. You would want to seal this area. If you are planning on rebuilding the axle, then just disassemble it and make sure that you clean it thoroughly before reassembly. Blast it with the old bearing races in place, or otherwise protect the bore for the bearings and differential caps. You don't want these areas to be abraded by the sand.

 

[EchoWars]

Rule of thumb is that sand (or whatever media) goes everywhere and gets into everything. Personally, I'd not blast an axle unless it were removed from the vehicle and totally dissembled. YMMV.

 

[Heavychevy]

X2 on sand getting everywhere. Sand can find it way in by seals easily. Complete disassembly is the right way. I suppose if you have protection of some type on seals and close off your vent it could be done, but i wouln't feel comfortable doing that though.

 

[Idahododgeram]

I used a $35 harbor freight needle scaler on mine. It takes a decent size air compressor and a little time, but it's a cheap and safe way to go. It's also noisy.