Welding (rear locker) the spider gears for the rear of an LJ20 (10, 50 etc)
I needed a "locker" for the rear axle of my 20 so I thought I would do a "how to", it's basically the same as welding most rear ends BUT there is one thing that is different and I will show you that.
With the carrier assembly already out of the axle housing, this is where we will start.
First remove the four nuts and lock washers holding the end-bearing caps on.
Then with a hammer tap the caps off, be careful not to damage the "Side Gear Thrust Washers"
Side gear thrust washers
Keep the caps and the thrust washers on the side they came off of. This is IMPORTANT! They HAVE to go back in the same side they came off from. The thrust washers are different thickness' so keep each side separate form one another.
To remove the bearing on the "top" side of the carrier assembly (if you don't have a press with a gear/bearing puller) take two large screwdrivers and use the bolts as wedges between the bolts and bearing, tap the ends of the screwdrivers so that the bearing comes up even on all sides.
If your drivers are not thick enough to get the bearing all the way off you can use both like this to wedge the bearing up more, again make sure the bearing is coming up evenly. It doesn't take much force to do this, thus it shouldn't damage the bearing at all.
Once you have the bearing off then take a small screwdriver and bend down the "lock tabs", bend them down just enough to get your socket on them, you do not want to go to far as they can and will break off when you reuse them. You probably will have to use your hammer on the screwdriver to tap them down.
Now to remove the side gear, this part is important. Notice the yellow marking that Suzuki put on the carrier, this mark is important, you will notice that when you remove the bolts holding on the side gear that two of them have shoulders (see second pic below) you MUST replace them in the same spot when it's time to reassemble.
If you want you can mark the ring gear with a center punch or a chisel next to the hole with the yellow mark. So you can line it up later during reassembly.
Notice the one on the left has a shoulder and less threads, there are two of these, one lined up with the yellow mark and the other on the opposite side.
Lightly tap the side gear down and off.
A look at the carrier with the top cover off.
Remove the pins by pushing them out with your fingers.
Notice the spider gears washers, keep them with the gears they came out with. Should be four gears and washers.
