I also knew this was going to be the answer before you even posted it, lol

 

You can run short arms just fine with a 6.5" lift if you get the control arm drop brackets.

 

At the expense of a small loss of clearance...I consider CADs a bandaid similar to transfer case drops. It improves a bad situation, but nothing will beat the long arm geometry.

 

So what u r saying is do not swap to 8.8(which would only cost me 400 cuz a friend of mine will charge only 100 to do the swap and the axle itself would cost 300) and drop to 33s.

 

That's what I'm saying.

I'm also going to wager a guess that your buddy doesn't know what's involved in doing an 8.8 swap either...you do know that welding is involved, right? It's not a simple swap, you need to shave the perches and reinstall. You don't know enough about what needs to happen with this mod to even think about attempting it, lol...

I strongly recommend you start reading up on what needs to happen to do things right.

 

BTW, 33s on stock gears is gonna suck too, just not as hard, lol....you really should regear to accommodate tire size.

Herein lies the problem with modifying, when you change one thing, you gotta change several other things as well to accommodate the change, and keep performance as close to stock as possible. It's a hard balance act, lol

 

Yes I know that there is wielding involved, ive seen couple of videos on you tube and my buddy says he could do it. I just wanted to know if I wad buying the right 8.8 that will fit my Xj, but I appreciate all information you guys have provided. I just got confused as to why is it better to keep the 8.25, dro to 33s or regear when the whole 8.8 installation would only cost $400 all in all. I think only the 33s would cost more than $400. I am new to this, but i wanna enjoy building my jeep too.

 

I think thats the fun part of building a jeep isnt it?

 

You keep throwing a price tag out there. Are you factoring in costs to regear?

 

Just swapping in a 8.8 isn't going to solve anything, you'll be in the same boat, just with different oars, lol

The axle you want to swap in needs to be the same gear ratio as your front axle. The reason people do this swap is a slight strength gain over the 8.25, with built in disc brakes, and better aftermarket support for gears, lockers, etc..

Again, you need to start researching what's involved, what it costs, pros and cons of different setups, etc...

You can do a disc brake swap relatively easy and cheap for the 8.25. Upgrading to 29 spline axles requires a carrier change, which if you're going to do, might as well do gears too. And since you're doing the back, you gotta do the front at the same time. See how fast the prices are climbing? LOL

 

It's also the expensive part, lol

None of this happens right away unless your wallet is deep enough to pay to make it happen right away. Also, if this is your only vehicle, get a bus pass, as all these mods take time, LMAO

 

Also please realize I'm not trying to discourage you, I just don't want you to waste time and money.

 

I see what you are saying, I would also need rk change gears in the front as well, I will do some research.

 

Go look at the cost alone for the 8.8 swap kit... not cheap.

 

Im trying to search for all the parts id need ro buy to do a proper swap but can't seem to find anything that goes straight to the point, do you have any info?