SJ410 Backing Plate Conversion
"By Paul Easley"
The problem with Samurai axles is that the brake backing
plate is sandwiched between the end of the axle and the pressed on
wheel bearings. This makes swapping axles a pain since you have to
press the bearings off and then back on to get this backing plate
on and off. Oh sure, you could just have a spare axle with that big
ol' backing plate already pressed on - but this makes carrying it
big and bulky and means you have to buy (or find) a spare backing
plate to go with each of your spare axles.
But the SJ410 used a small square plate to hold the
axles in place. This conversion makes use of this SJ410 part on newer
Samurais. These small, inexpensive plates can be pre-pressed on to
your axle so you can swap them out on the trail without having to
haul a trailer full of parts and tools along with you. Alternately,
you can cut a slot in these plates so they won't even need to be pre-pressed
on. You can just slip them off the old axle and slip them back on
the new axle between the pre-pressed bearing and the end.
We
had a rig that blew the rear axle bearings and seals. Since we had
to replace them all anyway we thought we would do the SJ410 backing
plate conversion at the same time. See the picture below showing the
leaking axle with all the brakes and other parts still on. In the
stock configuration all the backing plates and brake lines etc. must
be remove to do this job. When we are done this will no longer be
required.
Once
we removed the backing plates and axles we cut the old bearings and
retainers off by trimming them with a torch till we could break them
off the axle. Another method that can be used is to grind them almost
all the way through and then split them with a hammer and chisel to
get them off. Here is a picture of the axle as we prepare to cut off
the old bearings and retainers.
Once
we had all the old parts off we took the backing plates to the drill
press and used a hole saw to cut the center hole bigger so the axle
would be able to slide in and out with the bearings installed. A 3"
hole saw works perfect for this job. If you are careful it could also
be done with a torch or a die grinder.
We
now cleaned all the parts and installed new seals in the axle housing.
We then installed the new bearings and retainers on the axles. This
was easy to do using a piece of 1-1/4" schedule 40 pipe to drive them
on the axle.
We
no longer need to have the backing plate on the axle when the bearings
are installed and spare axles will take up much less space. We notched
the SJ410 backing plates so they would slip right on the axle and
we didn't have to have an extra set for the spare axles. This was
easily done using a hacksaw.
Next
the backing plates and brakes were reinstalled and hooked back up.
We then slid the axle in and installed the SJ410 backing plate.
After it's installed it looks like this.
The
new backing plate will hold the old backing plate and the axle in
and we will never have to take the brakes apart to remove the axle
again. Once all the bolts are in and tight we put the brake drums
back on and bled the brakes to finish the job. The whole job took
about 2 hrs. and the rig will be much easier to work on in the future.
If you would like to purchase this item now, please
click
here....
