chefeagles

With the help of a previous post Im going to get Bruteforce HD u-joints
Advanced auto wants to know the size of my bearing. I have no clue.
They say its either 1.063 or 1.188.
Any help would be awesome.

ColoradoJeepXJ

What year is your XJ?

chefeagles

1991 briarwood dana 30 non abs non vac

ColoradoJeepXJ

That should be the smaller one, 1.063.

chefeagles

what would i measure to be sure?
napa wanted to know the outside dia. of u-joint end. mine is 1 1/16. the other size they had is 1 3/16.

BudgetXJ

If they're the factory shafts that are in it, they're the smaller ones

ColoradoJeepXJ

1.063" is 1-1/16"

chefeagles

ok im sure they are factory.
any kinda up grades for the u joints because they are small ones? with out have to change anything else?

BudgetXJ

Go to the JY and pick up a pair of axles out of a 97+ Cherokee and put those in. They have the bigger joints in them. Then put new joints in your old shafts and carry them for trail side repairs. You shouldn't have to make repairs nearly as often though because the bigger joints are considerably stronger. From what I've read, they're the same joints as the Dana 44 front ends use.

BudgetXJ

Also, tack weld the u joint caps to the axleshafts. Just a tack not a full weld, and it won't spit the joints as easy

chefeagles

humm ok. what u-joint would i need for the 97+
And I wouldnt need to do anything else just pull out old shafts and slide in the "new" ones? Only difference is u-joint size and the size of the knuckle?

BudgetXJ

The u joint's you would need for the newer cherokees is the bigger of the 2 in your original post. I think the spicer part number is 297-x. And yes the only difference between the newer shafts and older shafts is the larger u-joint size on the newer ones. They are direct replacements for your d30 as long as its the non vacuum disco unit.

I did this mod on my old Cherokee. Its really easy. The hardest thing was tracking down a 36mm socket to undo the huge nut on the outer end.

chefeagles

yea that sounds like a pretty easy upgrade. this would be my second set of u-joints in 2 year so an upgrade would be awesome.
Im hoping adavanced auto has a 12 point socket loaner tool.
will I lose any turning ratio? not that its a big deal

chefeagles

and advanced has a loaner tool. 49 bucks till I bring it back. but thats cool.

BudgetXJ

Nope. You won't even notice a difference. Apart from the fact that you won't be changing u joints as often. If you have access to a welder, make sure you tack the u joint caps. I beat the crap out of my old one with no problems and I didn't even replace the joints after I got the shafts from the JY.