AMC 20 Woes

turbogus · 11-02-2005, 04:14 PM

Greetings from Oregon (rainy, dreary, wet) I purchased a '78 CJ 5 a while back and have been having some rear axle problems. Shortly after acquiring this CJ axle grease was seeping out of the hub. Upon removing the axles we noticed that the inner wheel bearings were WELDED to the axle, not by heat/friction, but by someone with a welder! A local shop re kitted this axle (narrow AMC 20) with a Yukon 1 pioece axle kit I also installed a axle truss/skid plate. 1st try and the free play was too tight - burned up the wheel bearings. 2nd try, too loose - axle backed out of the housing shortly after leaving shop. 3rd try and things went well for about two months and then noticed some seepage at the rear hub again. Sure enough, the free play had increased. This go, a non stock bearing keeper was installed to hold bearing firmly in place -we hope! The shop chief noticed that there are two half circle ( ) inserts incorporated into this axle that were part of the 'welded' axle, no mention of these in the AMC service manual that I luckily had acquired since getting this Jeep, and another odd thing is correct free paly cannot be obtained without these half circle inserts. Any ideas for a final cure to these axle woes?

gumby · 11-02-2005, 04:35 PM

get a new one amc 20 are cheep and easy to get. it sounds like some kind of urban engineering was done on that one. keep trying but it sounds like the maybe the axle length is wrong as a result of welding. you may never get it right
its easy to swap out a axle

John C · 11-02-2005, 07:55 PM

Agree with Gumby. Search the parts yards and find another complets 20 and swap gears. For a better bet find a 8.8 from a Ford Explorer with rear disk and swap it in. Right width and a disk brake upgrade. Plenty strong for moderate wheeling

thiswebs4u · 11-03-2005, 12:05 AM

Greetings from Colorado, nice and sunny most of the time. I was born in Portland but came here. If you want to get away from the rain come to Colorado. Anyway, I have AMC 20's also. I and going to find some Waggy's from a 74-80 Wagoneer and replace mine. I don't think the AMC 20 will deal with the torque the 350 Chevy puts out. If you want to keep the AMC 20 you can probably go to a junk yard, don't sound like what you have is any good.

CJBrian · 11-03-2005, 12:33 AM

I got a widetrack AMC20 housing in my garage. Free if you want to drive down to the OC.

jeepdaddy2000 · 11-03-2005, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbogus

Greetings from Oregon (rainy, dreary, wet) I purchased a '78 CJ 5 a while back and have been having some rear axle problems. Shortly after acquiring this CJ axle grease was seeping out of the hub. Upon removing the axles we noticed that the inner wheel bearings were WELDED to the axle, not by heat/friction, but by someone with a welder! A local shop re kitted this axle (narrow AMC 20) with a Yukon 1 pioece axle kit I also installed a axle truss/skid plate. 1st try and the free play was too tight - burned up the wheel bearings. 2nd try, too loose - axle backed out of the housing shortly after leaving shop. 3rd try and things went well for about two months and then noticed some seepage at the rear hub again. Sure enough, the free play had increased. This go, a non stock bearing keeper was installed to hold bearing firmly in place -we hope! The shop chief noticed that there are two half circle ( ) inserts incorporated into this axle that were part of the 'welded' axle, no mention of these in the AMC service manual that I luckily had acquired since getting this Jeep, and another odd thing is correct free paly cannot be obtained without these half circle inserts. Any ideas for a final cure to these axle woes?

Howdy follow Orygun brother. By your post, you must be North or West(coast) of me. Anyway...Did you remove the spacer on the diff crossshaft? Most axle upgrades require this. With the one piece axles, endplay shouldn't be an issue. It may be possable that this is the problem. Another possability is that the bearings are installed backwards.

turbogus · 11-04-2005, 09:44 AM

Yeppirs Orygun bro' I'm between Corvallis and Philomath (where men are men, an' we don't need no stinking umbrellas)

Checked and verified the wheel bearings are positioned correctly.

The spacer between the axle shafts is still installed as without it, the axle would travel further into the axle housing without it, further increasing the gap to be shimmed beyond the capable length. We got these axles from Yukon and for the '78 narrow track there was only one set listed, could there be another set of axles for the AMC 20 that are about 5/8" longer to take up the space of the inner spacer and my two half rounds?