Lairxj

I own a 2001 Cherokee Sport that had the standard Chrysler rear axle running 3.55 gears. I am running a basic 2" lift with 235/75 R15 tires. I discovered that when I am towing my 1,700# boat and trailer that I was unable to maintain 70 mph in 4th gear. The transmission wanted to hunt between 3rd and OD. This situation caused me to seek a solution by changing my rear axle to 3:73 gears. I bought a 1989 Jeep Cherokee Dana 44 axle from a guy selling his axle on ebay who had plans to convert the shoe brakes to disc brakes using 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee rotors and calipers and caliper support brackets. I followed the conversion instructions outlined elsewhere in this forum. I located a small machine shop to open up the caliper support brackets to fit the Dana 44 axle ends. I also had the machine shop machine two spacers also required to account for the caliper support bracket thickness when bolted in pace of the shoe brake backing plate. The machine work cost $270 for both caliper support brackets and two spacers. A buddy who owns an auto repair shop purchased the new front and rear 3:73 ring and pinion sets from Randy's Ring & Pinion at his cost? This same shop installed the new gear set and bearing kit in the rear axle. I then took the axle back home to do the rear disc brake conversion. I rebuilt the calipers which was easy and also ended up buying new rotors from AutoZone. I also bought new brake shoes for the emergency brakes. The two spacers made by the machine shop were installed by an axle shop when I needed the new axle bearings pressed on. The cost to have these new bearings installed was $80 for both axles.

Note: 1996 Grand Cherokee rear disc brakes are configured with small brakes shoes that function as the emergency brake as well as the rear disc brakes.

I have not yet figured out how I am going to reconnect the emergency brake cables to the small levers that protrude inboard.

Once I completed the rear axle brake conversion I took the axle back to my buddy's shop where they removed the Chrysler rear axle and installed the rebuilt converted Dana 44 axle. They also changed out the gears to 3:73 in the Dana 30 front axle. Additionally, they reconnected the brake lines to the calipers. I did not do anything to the brake master cylinder. It was untouched.

It has now been a week since everything was completed and my Cherokee is running well and strong. I have regained the original performance when I had the 3:55 gears and smaller diameter tires. The brake performance is perfect now. No fading now when making hard stops. I have not yet towed my boat to see if I can now maintain 70 mph in top gear. My tachometer shows an increase of 220 rpm at 70 mph. I believe the taller tires with the 3:55 gear set resulted in a "lugging" situation. 70 mph showed around 2,050 rpm. With the 3:73 gears I am now seeing 2,200+ rpm which is much better. Noise level increase is not discernible.

I am sharing this in case anyone is thinking about doing this conversion.

So the question is, "would I do this again?'. The answer is yes. Total cost was around $2700 (both axles). My buddy with the repair shop gave me a deep discount on all the parts, I essentially paid wholesale for parts plus the labor for his axle guy. I learned a lot from all of this.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about anything I stated above!


Randy in Wichita