Ok so my hands are tied right now. The wife gave the go ahead on full widths BUT I'm trying to justify this swap to myself. I currently have a HP D30 and D35. The D35 will be replaced asap! I'm running 33's and don't see ever going bigger than 35's. The only wheeling it sees is mud and hill trails. NO ROCKS! This is my DD right now. Once I get a new DD I'll really build this one up. If I go full width I wanna do front leafs. With all the money I'd spend on full width axles, gears, lockers, shafts, and all the fab parts I could built a kick butt trussed D30 w/long arms and rear 8.25 or D44! So...I've read enough full width threads to know what's up with that. I wanna hear everyone running XJ axles w/tires larger than 33's. I wanna know upgrades you've done and what problems you've had. Also what terrain you wheel on and how hard you wheel it. This is how she sits now. Thanks!!!

i don't like full width thats me.....go to the junkyard get the 29 spline 8.25 lunchbox it. beef up the front....thats my $0.02

The 8.25 came in different splines right? How can u tell the difference and what years did the come in?

97+ w/o abs had 29spline

Hey just thought I would throw out my opinion on things. I drive a '94 Cherokee, RC 4.5" Short arm lift with drop brackets, HP Dana30 w/ 4.10 and ected locker, Dana44 w/ 4.10 and lockright locker, 34" Truxus MT's.
I mostly rock crawl here in South Dakota. The axles are stock exept for what i listed. If i was you I would just find a dana44 or 8.25 29 spline and wheel it like that until something breaks.

i'm a shade tree mechanic...not very familiar with abs. what on the rear axle would tell me abs or no abs?

well the bottom line is i NEED gears! i'm probably 3/4 throttle on the interstate only hitting 65-70 and sucking gas like a red neck with budweiser! (no offense to anyone! just something that crossed my mind)...lol! my mentalilty is that if i'm going into the axle i just as soon add lockers while i'm there. nothing fancy...just a couple of lunch boxes or something.

Anyone doing the full width swap should be into it. If you are so-so about it, you should beef up the 30, get a 44 or 8.25, and run it IMO. You should have no trouble on 35s with that setup in that terrain.

simple....if you are junkyarding it just open the hood if you see a big block with a mess of brakelines coming out of it by the master cylinder the truck has abs...dead give away though is the flat part of the housing that sticks way out past the cover on the bottom look at pic:

oh don't get me wrong...i love the look and wide foot print BUT i just can't justify it right now! if i do start getting into the more hardcore stuff or drop a V8 into the XJ then i'll upgrade to full width 60/70 and sell the built XJ axles. i know enough guys around here with jeeps that i could probably sell to. the main purpose of this thread was to feel out people's experiences and set ups. i do an extreme amount of homework and just laying sleepless in bed before i make a decision that inovles this much $$$$! having a wife and 3 kids i don't have much extra cash so i don't wanna waste it. i REALLY wanna hear from the guy (or gal) running a D30 with D44 or 8.25, 35's, and beats the **** outta their rig! i wanna know what they're set up is. tho i don't abuse mine...i wanna overbuild them!

cool deal! we moving at the end of next month so after that's all settled i'm gonna start jy trolling!

My 99 runs 36's and for mud and light trails it works fine. For now the drive train is all stock. Money and its my dd. Looking forward to doing upgrades but woks just fine. 4-low has plenty of get up and go for what it is used for at the moment.

but how's she drive on the interstate? yeah i have a 4 door dodge with the hemi when the family and i go somewhere but we have a camp about 1.5 hrs north and it kills me driving on the interstate! not to mention towing a loaded 12 ft trailer is interesting at those speeds! gotta run it in 3rd gear!

Anyone else?

Well I just drove an hour on the interstate and it wasn't all that bad. It wasn't a car but not as bad as I thought. with stock gears averaged 17MPGH!!!! not gad at all. Bumpy but do not have my long arm dune and for some reason tire shop put 30psi when I got the tires balanced the day before. Overall vary impressed. However did not tow anything. And not saying my rig will stay like this forever but right now with no extra cash its not horrible.

17 mpg?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I WISH!!! I'm getting like 11 average and highway is way worse