I've heard time and time again not to upgrade my existing dana 35 rear and spring for atleast a 44. Some one told me that certain year cherokees and grand cherokees came with a stock dana 44 rear end. Any one have some feed back on either avenues of approach?

 

go for a cherokee 97+ chry 8.25 rear end....Easier to find, more around and cheaper than the 44 for just about the same amount of strength...Just make sure its a 97+ with 29 spline shafts

 

A 92' is a 27 spline correct? not a hundred percent sure.

 

you can also use an Ford Explorer 8.8 rear end just make sure you get right gear ratio, and disc brakes

 

Is the ford the same width or would it have to be cut down?

 

The Explorer 8.8 is actually narrower than the Cherokee axles by about 1.5 inches. Unless you are going to be running tires over 35 inches tall the Chrysler 8.25 is the easiest and cheapest way to go. Look for an 8.25 with the same gear ratio as the one you are planning for the front. The 29 spline shafts are about 25% stronger than the 27 spline shafts and the 29 spline shafts came in 97-01 Cherokees.

 

yes unless someone has swapped it but you can't really trust someone who tell you they did or not

 

my buddy got an XJ from a junk yard, it was there b/c rear end fell off, got a chry 8.25 put on. Upgraded w/out even knowing! lucky dawg.

 

Yes, it is suppose to have 27 spline shafts, but the only way to know a hundred percent is to look for yourself. It is like Blacksport stated they do get changed. The 8.25 is so easy to swap shafts in that I would look for matching gear ratios first, and if I could only find the ratio I wanted in a 27 spline axle I would get it, and just swap shafts, it is so much easier, and cheaper.

 

is the 97+ 8.25 axle 5x4.5 or 5x5.5?. my jeep is a 89 with 5x4.5 i would need spacers to convert the lug pattern correct? also is the 8.25 a c-clip axle? and can i keep my drive shaft or swap it with the shaft that the 8.25 came from?i run a np242 so i don't know if that is a issue also.

 

All xj axles are 5x4.5. Yes the 8.25 is still a C-Clip axle. You should be able to keep the driveshafts and the 242 should not be an issue

 

Dana 35 shafts longer than 8.25 grab it also good insurance.

 

And the 8.25 is a cinch to convert to disc brakes.

 

A D44 did come one early model manual Cherokees but they're extremely rare and 99.9999999% of wrecking yards know what they have and charge a pretty penny for it.

 

Actually, more automatics. And Wagoneer XJs to boot.

What were they thinking?