Hey guys, i've been beating myself up in the street all day swapping an 8.25 from a 00 xj into my '96 (8.25 as well). Got everything pretty much bolted up, but I'm having a problem with the rear driveshaft U joints. The donor axle had a lot of dirt and rust buildup in the bolt holes for the U joint straps, so i sprayed it out with brake clean then used a tap to clean up the threads.
The problem comes in when i'm attempting to screw in the cap screws. They will go in about halfway by hand, then another 1/4 of the way with a wrench, but then they tighten up to the point where i have nearly completely rounded off one of the hex heads. I made sure to tap all the way through the yoke as far as the tap will go, but the caps are still loose.
The U joints themselves sit in the yoke perfectly but no such luck tightening them down. I'm going to buy a new strap and bolt kit tomorrow, but if anyone can shed light on this issue it'd be awesome as I need to get my truck back on the road.
Reason for the upgrade for any who care is going from stock 3.08 gears to 3.55 with upgraded shafts. swapping the d30 in a few weeks, just running without a front driveshaft till then. Thanks!

 

will your old pinion work from your 96? if so swap them over

 

This is what sounds like a stupid question to me, but I need to ask because I'm a couple beers in ... If i swap yokes, do I have to worry about the lash not being set right for the ring and pinion? And either way, do you have the torque specs for the yoke nut? Thanks!

 

Shouldn't be a problem, but if I were swapping anything it would be to a yoke that uses u bolts instead of straps.
Check this out it is for the u bolt yoke.

http://www.nitro-gear.com/yokes/
YOKC8.25-1310-27U

The pinion nut torque is I think 210 ft lbs

 

I had a d-shaft come apart on me & damaged the yoke,put on a JY yoke & tightened the **** out of it.I drove it for years after that,no problems.

 

Yes, you can damage things if you overtighten or leave the pinion nut loose. Too tight and you will destroy the pinion bearings. Too loose and you will have too much lash and could possibly damage the ring and pinion.

Torque it to spec. People that say they wing it and its "been alright" wouldnt even know if they /had/ screwed anything up. If their "wing it" repair has lasted any amount of time, it is due purely to luck.

 

what is the manufactured date on your 96? I have on thats 10/96. Im planning on pulling the Axle here soon to check. If its a 29-spline, it's getting a Locker/33s.

 

A 1996 with a manufacture date of 10/96? I thought the US manufacturers switched model years in July......

 

It varys. Production date is not a sure way to tell what model year a vehicle is. 10th digit of the vin is model year, regardless of production date.

 

It is a T. T=96. 10/96 manufacture date, Old style front clip.

 

Im still waiting to pull my axles tho. give me a couple days.

 

there shouldnt be a problem with the U-joints. Also, you shouldnt have an issue threading the bolt all the way in if you tapped all the way through the yoke. Maybe have trapped a piece of crap in the threads. I would carefully run the tap all the way through again to be sure

 

The crossover date on the C8.25 when the factory went from 27 to 29 spline axles was the end of June 1996; so you definitely have a C8.25 with 29 spline axles.

 

Alternatively you could do this https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/re...version-28141/ Easier then dealing with the crappy little hex cap screws IMO

 

How sure of that are you???