dana 20 axle

i have a 77 cj5 304 i recently installed a one piece axle kit,the grease leaked out of the left side bearing which went bad.the whole axle came out the housing while going down the road. when i put the bearings on the shaft i didnt place the brake backing plate on first. i didnt catch it until i was done so i cut out the backing plate large enough to slide over the bearings using the seal plate to hold the axle in i thought that was how the dana 44 was done should i get new plates is the 44 axles held in by seal or backing plates and or where can i get them. chainsawguy

 

The Model 20 axle was not made by Dana/Spicer. It's a corporate AMC assembly.

The backing plate holds the axle in the housing IIRC. (going from memory here). If the axle came out past the backing plate I suspect the center hole in the backing plate to be oversized or the retainer that holds the bearing onto the shaft to have failed allowing the shaft to have walked out of the bearing. I just re-read your post saying you cut out the backing plate to fit it over. If so, you just ruined it and need a new one.

Flanged Dana 44's have a separate plate that called an axle retainer that holds the flanged shaft into the housing. The axle, bearing, etc. passes through the backing plate and all is held in by the axle retainer plate which bolts on outside of the brake backing plate.