[Rust Buster]

Slowly getting things torn down. Got the front leaf springs out and I'll replace those as they don't appear to be stock and are in rough shape.

I figured while I am at it I'll replace the balljoints. I'm not sure they need it but I figured I might as well since now is the time to do it and they aren't too expensive. So I started the dissassembly to get to them. A couple of questions...

I had the front axle rebuilt last year when I changed gears, so the inner and outer wheel bearings are new. While taking the rotors off, each inner wheel bearing has this thin cable looking thing visible (Circled in yellow). What is it, and how do I get it back where it is supposed to be?

The axle shafts are pretty rusty. Is this bad? It looks like there is nothing to seal where they enter the axle tube, is there supposed to be something? There was some play in and out. Do i just sand of the rust and grease it up?

Where can I get new steering arm nuts, since everything I read says you cannot reuse them?

Lastly, how much pain am I going to be in trying to get the ball joints out?

Thanks!