Friend's 91 Cherokee's front axle does not work. Driveshaft spins and wheels do not work. Can he use the axle off of his "parts Grand Cherokee? It is a 93 and 4 wheel drive as well. not awd. What could be wrong with his axle in the 91 Cherokee???

 

Grand axel should be a direct swap. might be a good idea to open up the pumpkin on the XJ, to see what is happening. might just be broken spider gear. If so, just swap them. 2 hours of work better than 12 hours plus an alignment.

 

Thats what I told him I thought it was. We were going to pull the cover some time during the week to see what is going on. It is weird though because there are no noises coming from in there.
As for swapping spiders, I have no clue how to do that. I can do the alignment though since I have toe plates. Castor should not have to be messed with right? And Camber is what it is correct?

 

I just found and read this after searching on google.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/spider-gears-22945/
Funny that it gave me a link to this site lol.

 

Camber really isn't adjustable unless somebady put in adjustable ball joints. Caster may need to be adjusted, but probably not ZJ and XJ geometry is pretty close.

If the pinion is what broke, swap the axels.
Is the XJ an automatic? Does the grand have factory tow package? Need to make sure the gearing is the same. ZJ towpackage is 3.73, XJ auto and ZJ no Towing 3.55, XJ manual is 3.07.

To remove the spiders you will have to remove the carrier from the Ring gear, to remove the rollpin the secures the carrier pin that holds the spiders in.

 

yeah both are autos. I have no idea if the ZJ has a tow package. Would it have a class 3 hitch or something visual like an extra switch in the dash for towing? Or something written somewhere?

 

I read that some '91XJ's had the vac-disconnect front axle. Maybe that's your problem?
Look in here.>->http://sisoffroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118

 

i was reading something about that ealier. Some guy changed axles and made a plate to cover a hole in the axle housing. How the hell does the vac setup work?

"What front axles were used?
Dana 30 high pinion - reverse cut - 27 spline, 1.16" diameter shafts, 7.13" ring gear - used 84-99 (some axles through 91 are vacuum disconnect, 92+ are non-disconnect, 89-95 with ABS have 5-297x u-joints, all 95+ have 5-297x u-joints, all others have 5-260x u-joints)"

 

My understanding is that it has a fork that disconnects part of the 2-piece pass. side axle-shaft from the diff from the wheel, letting the front-end freewheel and not turn the drive shaft when 2WD is engaged to save gas.
If this is damaged/unhooked it will not engage the front axle even with the t-case in 4WD.

 

so I guess I'll look for a vac motor and then I will know if it does indeed have this. Then replace whatever and hope it works.
I am reading some stuff here.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/n...advice-547417/
One guy is talking about "you can always convert to a posi-lock. I know a few companies make a kit or you could fab up your own using bicycle brake cables and such, I'm sure you can find a write up on that fairly easy."
So I guess I first need to determine the problem and then I can help my friend decide what he needs/should do. Thanks for the help. Hopefully I can get it figured out sooner then later.

more info:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/fou...ing-bad-17611/
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/front-axle-526/

The ZJ axle swap might just be the way to go since he has it. So long as it has the right gearing that is.

 

Wouldn't it be great if someone wrote an article here in the Tech database describing the operation of the Vacuum disconnect and its problems....

Don't forget that ZJ axles are low pinion axles rather than High pinion axles like XJ axles. This wouldn't pose a problem if you are running a short lift and smaller tires.. but a big lift and big tires and you have just created another problem. The low-pinion axles create a large front drive shaft angle and a slightly weaker system due to its rotation in the opposite direction.

 

Truck will see no lift and tires will be a 235/75/15 or maybe a 30x9.5. We put some 31x10.5 on it yesterday, removed all the flares and I rolled the fender lips out so that they dont cut the tires. They are mounted on the 93 Grand Cherokees rims. But if I get the truck it will get some smaller MTs instead of the current 31" ATs and I might even trim the fenders for him before I get the truck.

 

IS the ZJ a V8 or a 4.0L?

ALL V8 ZJ's got the 3.73 gears and the 4.0L will have 3.55 gears unless it has the tow package than has a 50/50 chance of being 3.73 gears.

 

4.0. I want him to buy another Cherokee so we can use the Grand for parts. I want to put the grand's motor into a cherokee with a bad motor and use his front axle from the grand in his current cherokee.