so I started on installing my spartan locker today and came across the problem of not being able to get my cross pin out which isn't that big of a deal since I can just take it to a machine shop tomorrow morning... but still annoying but as with everything in the world, when you store your stuff in the garage its impossible to keep it from getting dirt, dog hair, and such out of the parts. So knowing that dirt can cause some damage to a third, how do you clean your third member before reinstalling it? Also it wouldn't hurt if you have any ideas for getting the cross pin retaining pin out so i don't have to take it to a machine shop.

 

Oh and I'm leaving tomorrow morning so my dad is actually the one who will be taking it to the machine shop and I'll be getting back friday so it'll have a good amount of time to collect dirt even thought small parts are in plastic bags and smallish parts are in clean bins (well as clean as humanly possible).

 

As crude as it sounds, I just pressure wash them till they're clean, dry it out with the air chuck (make sure you get all the water out) then put a good coat of WD-40 or Rem oil on the inside of the carrier to preserve it. Wrap it all up in a clean trash bag for storage, and wrap it again in a padded cloth for transporting. If there's rust on the gears, wire brush them off real good before all that.

 

Hopefully you figured it out already, but I cleaned mine with break clean.

I also had a problem getting the pin out that holds in the cross pin, I just beat the hell out of it and it finally let loose.

 

I store ring and pinion gears in plastic pain buckets with lids. In the past when I have changed out gears or thirds I have a simple trick to keep them clean and rust free. Drain the old gear oil into some type of pan, then pour it in a five gallon bucket. After that I put the parts in the gear oil and put the lid on it. For ring and pinion sets I take a coat hanger and wire them together so the sets do not get mixed up.