I have 1990 xj lifted 3.5in and running 33's on a stock dana 35 with 3.55 gears.

Situation: I was driving the jeep and all of sudden heard a awful loud dragging noise, thought it was a drive line, u-joints,ect. it wasn't. So I drove 20mph home. Called my jeep friend, he drove it and jacked the rear end up and pulled off the diff. cover and spun the wheels so that the gears would move, and huge chunk of metal fell out. He told me that the spacer broke and he counted the gears ring ratio and none of the teeth were broken it was just a spacer. He told me just to go find another complete axle for it.

Problem: I have no experience in this area, so i have not a clue what i would be looking for, few jeep friends told me to upgrade to c8.25 axle. okay thats great, but i have not a clue, how i would know if im buying the right axle for it, or what to look for when buying a c8.25.

Question: If im looking for a c8.25/or dana 35 , is it going to be a 3.55 gear ratio im looking for ? and if i do find one, can it come from a manual transmission or only automatic? and do i have to upgrade the front axle too?

Any help, suggestions, advice would be fully apperciated thanks!

 

Any D35 or C8.25 will bolt right in. Just guarantee its got the 3.55 gears. (almost every XJ with the 4.0 and auto had 3.55s, although a few rare ones with a tow package might have had 3.73s.

If the donor had a manual trans, its probably got 3.07 gears.

You do not have to touch the front...its got nothing to do with the rear, as long as your ratios are the same.

Im at work all night...if you want call...336-509-4322

 

@Thexjfiles- thank you so much!!

 

IIRC, driveshaft length is a little different between the D35 and 8.25, so grab the driveshaft too.

If you don't mind doing a little welding, a ford 8.8" from an explorer is also an option. 95-01 models have disc brakes.

 

Where are you located. I have a complete d35 with 3.55.

 

Yep. Do the 8.25. Easy to convert to disc brakes, too.

 

I have a d35 in my 91 right now with 3.55 gear ratio and I have a donor 97 jeep with a c8.25 2wd auto would this have 3.55 gears positively? Also I would need new u bolts to swap right?

 

Yes you need new u bolts

 

97 XJ? You got the bolts.

Look for a tag on the cover with the gear ratio on it.

 

the way you check for gear ratio is a little tag on the diff cover, if unmolested it should have it. here is a pic of a dana 35 with the tag on it:



if it doesnt have the tag on it, pull the cover and count the teeth on the ring gear and the pinon. take the number of teeth on the ring gear and divide it by the number on the pinion, for example a ring gear with 41 teeth and pinion with 10 teeth would be a 4.10:1 gear ratio.

 

@Akita8- I live in Oregon. ... Thanks For all the replies! this helped me out alot!
I'm still having trouble finding a c8.25 with 3.55 gears :/..