carfreak1989

i have a 98 zj (grand cherokee) thinking about doing an axle swap in the next few months... what should i go with that isn't too expensive but will hold up on the trails? right now all my mods are 3'' suspension lift and 31's. and what will i need to swap the axles? this is my first jeep so any help would be great thanks

mattj29

i have a 97 jz when i get the money im gonna put dana 30 in the front and dana 44 in back...i wish i could afford rockwells they look really cool and i think they are hard to break

taythegibs

you should have a dana 30 up front and either a dana 35 or a dana44a out back. for the front you could get a high pinion dana 30 out of a 95-99(?unsure?) xj and if you have the d44a in the rear it is not that bad of an axle.

jyaughn

i think all of the zj came with d30 in front and d44a in the back

chrisdm4

30s yes but the v8s have 44 in the rear and the I6 have a 35. The 35 is crap but running 31s I really do not see the need for doing a swap in axles. If you were going to run bigger tires then yes but that is what i run and i have beat the crap out of it on rocks and it held togeather great. The 8.25 is around the same as the 35 but better. There is also the 8.8. Sad thing is there not going to be direct drop in. so there will need to be mods. I would say go to the JY and try and find a 44 rear.

carfreak1989

thanks im looking to upgrade to a 6inch suspesnion lift and prolly 35's. cant put a body lift on a unibody so im just going with more suspension. just dont wanna break on anything 5 hours away from my house.

chrisdm4

Yeah if your are thinking of 35s i would do something bigger. Also if you are going to do 6" it would be time to think about doing links or a long arm kit. Then the funn starts!

drakan1908

The best rearend for a Grand would be a 8.8inch Ford from a Exploder. The 97/98 up(possibly earlier models) have disc brakes they use a 5x4.5 lug pattern and are about the same width( I think you need 5/8 spacers). You will need to change it for use with coils since exploders have leafs. I have heard that this rearend is better than a 44. The 44's in Grands are the dana44a the a stands for the aluminium center section and the aftermarket is nonexistant. The aftermarket for the 8.8 is pretty much unlimited.

winston427

Yep, the D44a in the Grand is an aluminum housing and you will punish it severly offroad with oversized tires.

carfreak1989

ok thanks lots of help then should i just keep the dana 35 up front or go bigger? also can i put a locker in the 8.8? im guessing you can but just want to make sure. thanks y'all.

taythegibs

you can run the dana up front for a while and then upgrade it or do it with the 8.8. Different people will tell you different things but you can run 35's on a 30, your just more likely to break something. For an upgrade you could go with a super 30 kit $$ or find a 44 and run it up there/

The 8.8 has a good deal of aftermarket support and you should be able to find whatever you need for it.

chrisdm4

Yupp