The front end on my jeep is shot, and sounds like its in pieces on the inside. There is a 1996 jeep cherokee being parted out near me, and i have a 2000. Are the front ends interchangeable?

 

The 96 is High pinion and 00 Low pinion (or vice versa, I can never remember), but I think so long as the gear ratios are the same you can swap the whole axle no problem. (The manual tranny is different usually than the auto, that I am sure of)
So if you're talking anything except full axle swap.. probably not, if you're talking full axle swap, probably fine.

 

Thank you. I will ask about the gearing. I might just end up finding one at a junkyard. This helps a lot and thank you!

 

Would one from a 98 fit in it?

 

all axles from the xj's are interchangeable. 00 and 01 are low pinion, but can be swapped out to a high pinion.
most all autos are 3.55 gearing, most manuals are 3.08, so be sure it matches your rear. 90% of all autos had 3.55, so it's a good chance you will find the right gearing.
they all came with a tag on the diff cover bolts that depict what gearing is inside, whether that tag has been removed, or is rusted to where you can't read, is common.

 

Pull the cover. Lets see the damage.

 

Jeep had gear ration options other than the standards for manuals and autos. Just saying
for you're awareness.

 

Yeah, the most common ones are what were listed previously... you should ALWAYS check, but if you know one is a stick and one an auto, that's not likely to work.

The other problem is that usually these Jeeps have been through multiple owners for folks buying them these days, so you never know what kind of changes might have been done already... so just be careful... axles are usually not wholly changed as far as gear ratios go (certainly a junkyard, part-out, isn't likely to be upgraded), so check twice, ask on this forum if you're unsure. That sort of thing.

A 98, 96, etc will all work... if you want a perfect swap you need a 99.5+ for a 00, but that may be difficult to find since you're looking at 99.5-01 and I don't know if a TJ will work without modification... I'm sure someone here knows.

I had a 00TJ and have a 95XJ... I couldn't tell the difference... never had an issue with either beyond u-joints and axle seals.

 

yes a tj axle will work. they are the exact same, other than all tj's were low pinion.
you can also use a zj axle, and i'm not 100% sure, but maybe a wj axle is the same. i know they have different brakes and control arms, not sure if the mounts are the same.
and of course, an mj axle will also work. but gearing is an issue.

 

If you go real old, then the front might have the vacuum disconnect. I'm surprised that the TJ axles have the spring perches and control arm mount in the same locations. If going used or junkyard, definitely turn and axle and found the pinion revolutions to double check the ratio. The previous owner might have re-geared, or like me swapped in junkyard axles with a different ratio. Or if you find a set of axles with a better ratio, you could swap both ends.

If going with high pinion instead of low pinion, grab the front driveshaft as they might be a bit different in length. Auto versus manual will have different length too (about an inch difference).

 

WJ axles are wider than the XJ/YJ/ZJ axles. Yes you can use the earlier acle with the 00 XJ. If you do you gain about 30% gear strength with reverse rotation (According to engineers at Randy's Worldwide). Many ZJ axles have Rzeppa joints on the axle shafts and are not as strong as the ones with U joints. Also later axle assemblies have a larger U joint on the axle shafts and are a little stronger there too. To see if the ratios are similar, see this thread

http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php...ell-axle-ratio