front axle wear (Banjo)

[awg]

I need to consider what to do about my front axles.

The ones in the vehicle are very worn in the races wear the balls run
between each half-shaft....there are noticeable shiny troughs worn.

I believe they would be far to deep for any regrind/oversize ball solution.
(unless it involved WAY oversize balls).

I have another set of axles, the trouble is some water has got in and there is slight rust pitting in some parts of the the ball race.
The races aren't worn down though.

My concern is that because the present shafts in the truck are so worn they could literally fly apart.

My questions would relate to whether it is possible to make useable
the pitted axles, either by welding and re-machining, or by attempting to
chemically fill the pits.

I dont know if the ball race areas are metallically treated in any way, such as hardening, they dont seem to be.

I have been advised for my limited application, the pitted ones should be OK.

Some engineering advice would be good, as I will probably have it apart in the near future.

Otherwise I will need to seek out some better replacements, they are hard to come by.

[John V Cliche]

Hi Tony
I don't consider the shafts hard to come by , at least in my area.
But they may be more elusive in your area.
Given the severity of use that you are likely to put on, I agree the pitted shafts would probably be fine, for quite some time.
I know we're half a world apart but I have some good T/O shafts and some NOS "balls" as well

Regards
John

[dr deuce]

I would ask the question: Do you need the front drive to be available all the time? A number of us have dummy drive flanges made from aluminum that replace the originals. These look pretty much like the originals depending upon how much you want to spend on them. We keep the originals in a sealed bag under the front seat in case of emergency so they can be swapped out in about 10 minutes.

This would be a short/long term solution whilst you look for new axleshafts. In addition, the truck runs quiteter and with better mileage.

After you found new axleshafts you could keep them or sell them