Axle Help

ONE PIECE AXLE HELP

This page has information pertaining to the correct installation of Moser Engineering 1 piece axles in an A.M.C. model 20.

Contents: Hints - Insights

This page DOES NOT CONTAIN the complete installation procedures. This page is comprised of "HINTS" and "INSIGHTS" for a more successful install only. Some of these hints and insights are in the install manual and most are not.

For Jeep CJ 76 and later. With or without Traklock.

This information will also work for most modern 1 piece axle kits.

Here is an exploded view of the A.M.C. model 20 (74k)

Hints

1- When installing "any" 1 piece axle kit, replace both inner and outer seals. This will minimize the chances of leakage.

2- Crucial: The inner seal must be installed correctly, fully, and with the right tool. If you don't use a seal install tool you may damage or distort the seal and it may leak.

Measure the depth before you pull the old seal and measure the depth after you install the new seal to insure the new seal is in all the way. The Moser axles rely on this depth for the spacer that comes with the axles. The spacer goes between the inner seal and the axle bearing race so you don't have to shim the axles.

3- If you do the job yourself, some of the tools you will need are: 5 ton press for the bearings as well as disassembling the old axles to get the brake backing plates off, brake tools, seal install and removal tool, gear oil, spray degreaser, silicone, and rags.

4-** The ability of the Moser axles to be inserted fully may be affected by the "Axle Thrust Block". You may need to remove the spider gears, side gears, and cross shaft out of the rear end and remove the inner "Axle Thrust Block" so the Moser axles will go in all the way. If you have 4.10 gears or lower (numerically higher), you will have to remove the ring gear to get the cross shaft out. Here is a rough drawing of the Model 20 Thrust Block location. When installing one piece axles, I suggest removing the Thrust Block regardless of its affect on the Moser axles. This may only have to be done on the Traklock equipped rear differential. Consult your manual and/or inspect your differential for a factory installed thrust block .

5- Mark your brake backing plates with the words "left" and "right" so you don't install them on the wrong axle. One model 20 axle is shorter than the other. Both the centered differential and the offset differential model 20 have a long and short axle.

6- The axle bearing when inserted into the housing along with the spacer, should stick out of your housing a little bit (.020 - .080) but not to exceed .080. If the bearing sticks out more than .080 you should check your inner seal for proper insertion or trim the end of the spacer that goes toward the inner seal. The bearing must stick out so the brake backing plate will squish the bearing race between the housing and the backing plate. You must use silicone between the backing plate and the axle housing flange or the axles may leak.

7- If you have to replace a bearing on the new style Moser axles, the Timken part # is --Timken SET-9--. You will have to re-use the bearing retainer ring or buy a new one because the retainer ring that comes with Timken SET-9 is to large. A Moser technical representative told me that the retainer can be used up to 5 times as long as the retainer requires at least 2 tons of force to press it on the axle. Moser Engineering sells new retainer rings if you ever need them.

8- IMPORTANT: Insure that all old axle flange shims have been removed. Some of the thinner axle shims are very hard to see and can cause the axle to have excessive end play or bearing slop. End play or bearing slop is a certain bearing and seal killer with this type of bearing arrangement.

Insights

According to Moser Engineering, AMC was fairly consistent with the machine work on their axle tubes. This means that most installs should be similar.

Yes I know it sounds strange but it works good if the bearing race sticks out of the flange between .020 - .080.
I had to see the axle bearings to fully understand how this setup works. The bearing set (Timken # SET-9) can not be loaded to much because of the way it is made. The inner bearing race has a machined area that hits the outer race preventing the bearing set from being squished to much and overloading the rollers.

The main focus here is to properly insert the inner seal and make sure that with the spacer installed, the bearing set should stick out of the housing between .020 - .080. There is no bearing adjustment or shimming with this type of bearing. It is similar to a sealed ball bearing in construction but has tapered rollers for more thrust capability and they are not sealed.

The bearing stick-out is there for one reason. It is there to allow the brake backing plate to trap the bearing-set between the axle flange housing and the backing plate. REMEMBER, the bearing race is a slip fit in the axle housing so you have to trap it some how or it may spin in the housing.

The reason that you don't want the bearing set to stick out of the axle tube flange more than .080 is that the set up will be prone to leaks because of the gap created between your brake backing plate and the axle tube flange. When you tighten the brake backing plate up to the axle tube flange, you are actually bending the brake backing plate around the bearing slightly to make up the gap created by the bearing sticking out of the axle flange .020 - .080. Use silicone between the brake backing plate and the flange.

If the bearing sticks out to far (over .080) you can turn or grind the spacer. Just make sure that you grind it on the end that goes to the inner seal. The other side of the spacer is machined to fit the bearing and should not be turned or
ground upon.

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THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED 10/01/2006 This site is about my Jeep. My goal is to help you to better your Jeep through my experience. Thanks for visiting..... Trailhed.com

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