nicpaige

Yes Im new, have had my Cherokee for a couple years now and love it. Thanks for any help offered. I have a 2000 Cherokee sport 4wd and need to find a new front axle assembly. Mine has 3.55 gears. What other year Cherokee axle assemblies are a direct swap for my year Cherokee please?

RK1911

Any Dana 30 High - pinion axle with 3.55 gears from any year Jeep XJ. (1984 - 2001)

mehoff_400

are you positive you need a front axle?.... what is wrong?

scoobyxj

I would not suggest swapping in a HP D30 into a non lifted 00/01 XJ. The pinon will destroy the exhaust down pipe!

Any 00/01 LP D30 Auto trans will be a direct bolt in no issues.

TJ 97 only. Probably auto trans 4.0ltr.

ZJ (93-98) LP D30, Will work depending on the gear ratio. IIRC only the 4.0ltr has 3.55 gears, and all ZJ's with the tow package regardless of motor have 3.73s.

Beware ZJ's with the NP249 transfer (full time 4x4) case have weaker CV style axle shafts.

mr white

99.5-01 is low pinion. Pre 92 had vacuum disconnect. 96-99 had the larger u joints in the high pinion years.

OP if you want the best d30, you'll look for 96-99 high pinion. If you don't care, anything after 92.

SBpunk

I thought they got rid of the vacuum disco's in 1990 when they swapped to the HO engines?

nicpaige

What exactly is a vacuum disconnect? I found one from a 1991 thats pretty clean. Will it work?

salad

In a nutshell, vacuum disconnect is a second system to engage the front axle. When you shift to 4H in other Jeeps, the transfer case sends power to the front drive shaft and off you go. With vacuum disconnect, the transfer case also routes vacuum to a small motor, which connects the passenger side axle shaft to the differential. With the passenger side axle disengaged the differential just spins freely. It was done for fuel economy but the maintenance hassle was found to be not worth it and Chrysler moved to standard one-piece shafts. The vacuum disco is easy to bypass, I think a simple washer or clip in place of the vaccuum motor permanently locks it in place. Note that this doesn't mean you're always in 4WD, just that it behaves like every other vehicle.

It was found as late as 1991 model years and in a lot of YJ Wranglers.

nicpaige

Picked up an axle today, thanks for all the info guys!