I have been lurking here for quite some time and have gained quite a bit of useful knowledge here and thought I would appeal to this fountain of knowledge myself :).

To avoid the obvious, I know that I need to replace the 20 and have a Dana 60 being built but I need the 20 to last until I can afford to get the 60 built and under the jeep (SOA, custom springs, anti-wrap, etc). I plan on doing it right, which means a bit of cash. :)

Since it is a AMC 20 and I run 35's the housing has bent a tad from time to time wearing away at the driver side bearing. I know this since last year it started making nasty noises and it no longer matters how often I change that driver side inner seal because it will leak as soon as I twist the suspension up. SO, bearing is toast. And of course the ARB doesn't like this either.

Here lies the problem...

I have a Genuine Gear 1st generation one piece axle kit in it. Apparently GG does not make the bearing retainer anymore ( been told by 2 shops). Although 4WheelParts will gladly say they do and sell ya 2nd generation parts. The major differences are that the retainer piece in the 1st gen is a stepped design while the newer design is a simple collar. The 1st gen has a zerk fitting on the outter seal and the 2nd gen doesn't. The 1st gen and 2nd gen do NOT share the same seals either. They are obviously diiferent diameters.

Does anyone know how I can get around this? I thought the retainer could be heated and pressed off maybe?? (break components in the way) Or someone here may know something that knowone else around here seems to know (ie where to get the right parts in Denver).

I do not want to spend a ton of money on this since it just needs to last for a few trips. I have even wondered if the stock 2 piece axles would fit back in and then I bring a spare with me for if/ when it breaks, leaving the passenger side a one piece. :confused:

Sorry for the long post.

The last model 20 that I worked on was bent too, It had Summers Bros. axles in it and they broke and we replaced them with the stock 2 piece axles and it did not even make it out 4 miles to the end of the trail befoire the new bearings fell out of it in pieces.
Anyway you might be able to heat and press off the old retainer doing it carefully , but I never had any luck saving the retaining rings off of Dana 44s though, allways ended up cutting them off.
Good luck

Not sure about GG axles, but the first generation Mosers I have can be machined by Moser for a small fee to fit the newer model tapered bearings. There might be the same kind of fix for the GG axles. Just a thought.:D

Thanks for the info....

4Wheel parts still maintains they can get the parts but I won't know until Monday. If they can't they may have another option.

Cross your fingers for me :P