I remember doing it that way,but in the recent years,I take the bare housing to the local machinist and have it hot-tanked. It gets everything out,leaving it clean,like fresh cast. You obviously need it out of the car,and completely disassembled though.
Did you've pinion bearing check? If it don't stick to yr magnet it's clutch, you should have a magnet on the cover or bottom of housing. Our type of axle bearing are ball roller not timpkin. Up n down on an axel is race wear , not good , will only get increasingly worse. I would look at the vulcnized rubber part of front end of shaft. Bound to be bad. I had mine removed with bigger tube upfront and shortened for the 700r4 swap
I've come to the conclusion it was rust. why it was in the R tube and nowhere else is beyond me. There was 2 spots on the R axle that had rust corrosion showing. Its all put together after checking everything out and finding 0 problems. Now its onto the drive shaft and carrier bearing.
Brian, I do not believe it has any sort of vent. I've had that rear in and out, spent hours under the car and have not seen one.
It might be in the pumpkin itself,like the Chevy rears. There will be one somewhere. I have seen where there has been rust or signs of moisture on the side where the vent is. That is why I asked.
If it is a Factory rear...IT HAS A VENT - Most gm older models will be in the axle tube passenger side... Newer GM will be in the passenger side casting above the second casting wing support just over where the axle tube is pressed in where it will start to arch into the center cavity casting. 4 link Chevy will be just under the passenger upper control arm mount. Some times the vent is sheared off later models were only plastic vents and easily mangled and destroyed leaving only a stub that will get filled with grease and debris from years of road grim. etc. Jim J D Race
Its on the driver side tube next to the carrier housing directly infront of the brake line bracket Briz. Pretty much hidden from view.
But your stuff was on the rite side. Still a mystery. It has to be from your whele bearing, but if that aint it did you save a sample for DNA testing. That might be the only way to tell.
Jim, It my 68 Riv with the 9 3/8 rear end. I was wondering if maybe that axle could be part of my vibration problem. When I test fit the Keystone wheel to it and spun it to check for clearance issues it was so close to the backing plate that I could detect a slight wobble. Look at the vid attached. its either that or run out on the wheel.
That is just not a good way to tell. Pull it and take it to a machine shop for accurate measuring. rim could be off , is the drum surface clean or flange surface clean ...are there any hub register obstructions keeping the rim seating true and flat? Just TOO many factors.
No machine shops in this area. and I believe he drum and wheel surfaces were clean and flat. I'll repeat test with another wheel when they come in.
If you have a dial caliper with a magnetic base or way of mounting it. The wobble can be just different thickness of metal making it look wobbly. You could even stick the tip of a pic inbetween the plate and rim and see or hear it rub if its not true on the inner area. That looks too close though. any flex and will rub for sure. If you have a brake lathe you can turn the wheele. How close is it with your other wheele?
The old wheel has about 1/4" less BS so its not hat close to the backing plate. defiantly not running rim clamp wheel weights on this one!