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So, Unpainted Axles


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So over the weekend I took the Mustang to one of the local Firestones to have the tires rotated. I was going to do it myself but it was 90 degrees in my garage and I figured the heck with it, for ten bucks I'll let Firestone do it. I even gave them my torque wrench so they could hand tighten the lug nuts to the proper torque spec. Turns out its a good thing I did this because I was out in the bay with the techs while they were pulling the tires off and I got up under the car just to check things out. The rear axle has surface rust from one hub to the other and you can clearly see bare metal along the top where it hasn't rusted yet. This seemed very unusual to me for a car with only 5K miles on it. So I started doing some research on the net and found out that the vast majority of Mustangs have unpainted axles and this has been a common practice for years now. This is Ford trying to save a dime by not painting the axles and because it's up under the car where nobody can see it they figure what the heck. Their contention is that it is just surface rust that will not affect the axle or it's performance. That may be true but it looks like total crap and it's just one more example of a car company cutting corners to save a buck. How much could it really cost per axle to paint them? Ten, maybe twenty bucks per axle? Even if you passed 100% of the cost on to the customer I think they would rather pay the extra twenty bucks than have a rusty axle under their car. But some bean counter somewhere has figured out that Ford can save x number of dollars per year by leaving the paint off. This is not surprising to me and its just one more example of how car companies cut corners to cut costs and still charge the customer out the ass. The downside of capitalism is that someone is always looking to rip you off somewhere and in some way. So, I'll just get out in the garage one weekend, jack the back end of the car up and paint the axle myself with some Rustolem and high heat paint. I shouldn't have to do that, but hey, at least Ford saved a dime on my axle. Yet another example of why new cars aren't worth the money.

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Never noticed if CV's and TC's had unpainted axle housings. Well, that won't be a problem with the 2015's. AFAIK, that's the end of the SRA in North American car production. :)

 

 

Not to worry, bet on the fact that they have found somewhere to cut costs during production. I have resigned myself to the fact that when it comes to cars you buy the car you like and then its up to you to fix or replace all the stuff the manufacturer skimped out on or otherwise didn't do to save a dime here and there. You never get what you pay for anymore unless you buy some high end super car and even then you're paying way more than its actually worth.

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Why should I care if an axle is painted or not?

 

Especially on a Mustang where you can't see it unless you are laying on the ground looking at it.

 

By the time there would be enough rust on the axle to make any difference in functionality, the vehicle would have long since been wore out.

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This would be the axle housing not the actual axles which slide into the housing. I've done a few 8.8 swaps on foxbody's and don't recall the rearends were painted...scoured the junkyards and have seen piles of rears and don't recall them being painted. Don't believe this to be a new practice, but like what was said with the SRA going away this will no longer be an issue.

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I shouldn't have to do that, but hey, at least Ford saved a dime on my axle. Yet another example of why new cars aren't worth the money.

 

So why did you buy one, if you're smarter than the rest of us and figured that out? Also, I thought you said (because, again, you're the only smart one around) Ford saved $10-20 per axle. So which is it? A dime or $20?

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All cheerleading aside, Before I closed my shop 8 years ago, I started to notice unpainted driveline components on Ford products. I'm sure it was to save a few beans.

 

But the issue is, does it matter?

 

Where I was, (NE) the cast iron parts would rust very quickly, whether they were painted or not. On the steel pieces (Axle tubes) the paint would hold up much better, (even in the salt rich environment). However, they would still rust after a few years, (The paint quality wasn't that great). On unpainted steel, all I ever saw was a surfaced coating of rust. (Nothing like the scaling, flaking rust of the 60's -70's in that region).

 

In the end, paint or not, it didn't matter after a few years in that climate.

 

That said, I'd like to see the underside painted on a brand new car that I just paid big $ for.

Edited by Hemiman
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The 8.8" on my '01 Bullitt is unpainted. Not a big deal on a part you can't see.

 

The steel likely has a weathering alloy design that uses the surface rust as a protective coating instead of paint. The brown steel beams used on some bridges are an example of low maintenance weathering steel.

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For those discerning owners, I think it's a simple matter of Scotchbrite and Rustoleum....LINK

 

posted by elsuave on allfordmustangs.com

Try this no really need for sanding. Use rustoleum heavy rust primer 1 coat with a 2.5in painter brush. Then 2 coats of gloss black rustoleum. Here is the results first week I got my car.

Picture207.jpg

 

Edited by jpd80
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This would be the axle housing not the actual axles which slide into the housing. I've done a few 8.8 swaps on foxbody's and don't recall the rearends were painted...scoured the junkyards and have seen piles of rears and don't recall them being painted. Don't believe this to be a new practice, but like what was said with the SRA going away this will no longer be an issue.

 

Yep... none of my current or past Fox or SN95 Mustangs had a painted axle housing. In the mid-80's they began to leave the engine blocks unpainted. It isn't a recent development.

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It was brought up many times in the Mustang forums back in 05 when I got my Mustang GT. Some people paint them for esthetics, but it's not a functional problem, It's a flash surface rust, that's it, it doesn't get deeper or worse.

 

If you want to complain about the manual shifter that's rubbery, (all the aftermarket shifters have a bracket to stiffen up the set up, and really adds precision) them I'd agree. I didn't bother to paint my Mustang's axle.

Edited by timmm55
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I painted my '07s axle with Rustoleum while I was installing the SVT Handling Pack. From the glances I've taken since then (2009), it's held up rather well. I don't show my car or anything, so I don't really care how it looks on the underside. Besides, the 8 years of brake dust caked onto the inside of the wheels are far more worrying than the rusty axle!

 

IMG_1239.jpg

Edited by MadManMoon
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