Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!
The steer axle does not have an outer seal under the Spindle nut like the drive axles do. The front has the seal that is on the spindle that seals against the inner bearing and the seal in the retail at the end of the axle tube.
I just used a pair of Snap-On brake pliers #131A that I have had for years, a little small for the Deuce brakes, but big enough to do it. The spiral hook end twists into the spring end and then the big hook gets set in a shoe rivet, squeeze and it stretches the spring right out, takes about 3 seconds and no cursing.
I have a Snap-On drum brake tool: http://store.snapon.com/Brake-Spring-Tools-Tool-Brake-Spring-for-Bendix-P636110.aspx I'm pretty sure that's the one I have at least, its not directly in front of me. But I used that in conjunction with some pliers to get the springs off and on. Rusty nuts tool that he pictured would more than likely be better suited for the job, but either will work. I can also be done with pliers and some muscle, not as easy but it can be done.
I have the Snap-On brake tool you have and I have the Lisle version as well: http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?product=7&division=1&category=1
I'll shoot you a PM next time we get to work on it. Might have to find a new place to do it though. We were at my father in laws because he has the flattest driveway from everyone I know, and one of his neighbors called the city and they came out and put one of the dreaded orange stickers on the window... We called the guy who put the sticker on the window asking what we were being cited for and he said it was a "commercial vehicle parked in a residential zone". We told him it as privately owned and not commercial and his response was "Well, its a little big to be parked in a neighborhood". So yeah, I don't feel like getting into a battle with the city of Charlotte over this, especially when its not even my house. This is a whole other can of worms I don't want to get into right now, but that's the gist of it.
Its really not that bad of a job, its a little intimidating going into it if you don't have experience working on these things. Once you start digging into it, its really quite easy. Its as time consuming as you want to make it. I took longer doing it than most people probably would because I decided to be overly anal about cleaning off 35 years of dirt, grime, and grease that a lot of people probably would have left.
Degreaser and a pressure washer work wonders for cleaning axle and brake parts.
I actually have a 5 gallon bucket of Purple Power that I was going to use, but after evaluating the space we were working in (very little concrete with grass and shrubs surrounding) I didn't want to make a huge mess or ruin the yard seeing how it wasn't at my house. Ended up going through a lot of brake clean and shop rags along with some steel brushes to help.
Why do you think I used a pressure washer? Soak everything in water and dawn dish soap. Then pressure wash it clean. I woulda gone broke using just brake cleaner. Even one of those crappy electric pressure washers would do the job.
yep, but my kids would end up with grease all over them from playing in the yard......again
(I used a pressure washer and simple green to clean a transmission off after I pulled it off the deuce 2 years ago )
