ok just bought a 93 jeep cherokee for a mud truck......its a fuel injected 4.0 automatic.....im just familiar with ford rangers so i dont know what i have as far as axles and gear ratio im guessing dana 30 or 35 front (praying its not a 28) and have no idea about the rear end....also has anyone ever swapped in a 351 with the 4 speed man tranny? if so how hard was it??? i know its a unibody but i figure it can still be done....im sorry for all the questions but im clueless as to what i have.

 

Well you have a Dana 30 front. Probally 3.55 gears and hopefully an C8.25 rear but if not then its a dana 35 rear.

 

People have swapped in 350's and tranny's. It's very hard and requires a lot of modding and a new t case. Hope that helps.

 

ok sounds pretty good....about the 8.25 axle, how strong are they? is this the same meaning as the ford 8.8s and 9inchs?

 

People have swapped in 350's and tranny's. It's very hard and requires a lot of modding and a new t case. Hope that helps.


ok i might stick with the 4.0 and just run ring and pinions

 

The 4.0 is a very strong motor. And the Automatic Aw4 is very strong as well. You can swap in a ford 8.8 very easily and very cheap. Less then 100 bucks. But the 8.25 is a strong axle.

 

its not for sure that you have an 8.25 I have a '93 and I have the D35 in rear. you can look at the differential cover and tell. Hope you have the 8.25 I wish I did

 

ok thanks so much guys i aprreciate all the info.

 

That year 8.25 (if it's what you have) has 27 spline shafts and they are weaker than the Dana 35. The housing is stronger than a 35 and you can swap in 29 spline shafts from a 97 and up model and the strength is close to a 8.8 or Dana 44. Key word being close.

 

If your mudding, just wheel the crap out of it. I romped on my 96 with 31's and d30/d35 in mud and never hurt them, Its when you get in rock and much larger tires that things break.

I have to disagree that a 27 spline c8.25 is weaker than a d35. My buddy blew up his d35 on 35's (not hard to do btw after running it for 2 yrs) and got a free 27 spl c8.25. It lasted the rest of the life of the jeep.

To upgrade a 27 spline to 29 spline, you need a new alxe shafts and carrier w/ spiders or locker.

 

http://www.novak-adapt.com/ if you are hell bent on swapping engine look here they have info on pros cons parts etc.

 

Make it a stroker. You can go crazy up to a 4.9 i beleive. Or a simple 4.2

 

505 Performance 5.0 if you are gonna go nuts lol

 

i like that link they had some good stuff.... i might still be interested in the v8 swap, im wanting to run the 351 windsor motor (5.8 i believe) with the 4 speed manual transmisson. it seems to be pretty popular in the f150s and some rangers used for off-roading......anyway, i looked today at my rear i have the dana 35 based on the diff. cover.......not really dissapointed though....i have a 9in. rear im going to rebuild for the rear......just need to get my first paycheck from the new job in two weeks and the serious building should be underway.

 

350 sbc
351 windsor
360 amc/chrsler

all are 5.7L. The ford or amc motors are the best choice just because the distributor in the front of the motor making its easier to stuff into the XJ's engine bay.