Axle Clarification For 2000 J.Sport
 

Hey,

Looking at buying a 2000 Sport from a guy - seems like a decent deal for a future build. The seller was pretty upfront with me about the rear axle going out, though - that's part of why it's a cheap buy. Everything else looks good.

Front is chryco 8.25 and rear is d35. I could hear and feel the rear axle vibrating pretty good over 40mph.

I was doing some research on rear axle replacements, and I found some cool stuff on the Ford 8.8 as a near perfect match. This one guy on youtube kind of scares me away from the d35 and d44 - he says the d35 is trash (I don't really know). I've always heard the 44s are good, but he and a lot of other people are saying the 8.8 is pretty amazing. I can weld, and there are a ton of late 90s Explores in the local boneyard - an axle would cost me $115. Can anyone weigh in on the axle options here?

There were a few videos I saw and quite a few article - here were a couple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHRMEYGxlhA

http://prowheelsdirect.com/blog/buil...t-on-a-budget/

The Chrysler 8.25 is a rear axle that is a direct swap to any xj with a d35 already in place. you should have a low pinion d30 upfront, this axle is a pretty stout axle for what it is. Cant weigh in on the 8.8, I've heard many good things about them but don't have any experience with them. The dana 35, in my opinion scrap it. I have one on both of my 91's and bent an axle tube on one of them by hitting a ditch a bit to hard. I have 31" tires on that one. I do plan on doing an 8.8 on both of them in the near future.

Front would be a D30, the 8.25 and D35 are both rear. Curious to hear what Mr. YouTube said about the 44, I've always heard they're plenty good. Are you sure it's the axle and not the driveshaft?
The 2000 has a low pinion rear, but a HP 8.25 from 97-99 (?) has the better 29 spline axles and is pretty strong.

I'm somewhat new to this game, but I've never heard of an axle causing vibrations.

Could mean grinding, either from bad pinion bearings, or axle shaft bearings.


As for the 8.8, that's pretty bulletproof swap. Good if you want rear disc brakes. Most V8 explorers, have limited slip diffs, that's another plus. You said you can weld, so no issues getting aftermarket brackets and mounting tabs. The only real issue that you'll run into, is you'll have to put 1/2 inch spacers, because explorer axles are a total of 1 inch narrower than an XJ's dana35 or chryco 8.25. Or you can get a lower offset pair of wheels to make up the difference. Standard on the jeep is 3.75 backspace, but I think you can make it up by going 2.50 and have equal track width, frt and rear.

Jay-Sco -The one video I sited from Youtube pretty much says d44 is good, but a few spline shy compared to the 31 spline 8.8. I recall him saying something about how the 44 is good for off-road, but makes a bad street ride, and that a locker can blow them up. I don't know a lot about rear ends either. I'm kind of scared of them - I know if they are not balanced and put together right, they will die and cost lots of money.

Scott'sXJ - thanks for the tip. Spacers wouldn't be a big deal if I go this rout. I totally didn't even think about rear disk instead of drums. That shouldn't be a big deal, though.