Long story short, I replaced my rear drum brakes and realized just how much the job sucked and how much the brakes themselves suck. I'm only about 500 miles into them, and I feel an adjustment coming up. Not to mention that some pieces were MIA...

So basically, my 91 XJ is gonna be staying with me for a LONG time. Right now, as far as I know, it have a Dana 35 with 3.55 gears (I have the AW4, and I think someone mentioned auto trannys had 3.55 gears). I want to convert to disc brakes, and I have read that having a Chrysler 8.25 is much better (I do some slight off-roading, but mostly DD).

I need as much info on this as possible. Is there a Grand Cherokee with an 8.25 that has disc brakes that swaps right in? And wtf are c-clips?

Thanks guys!

 

dont know bout the grand having a axel that is direct bolt on but the 8.25 is a bigger axle, the down fall to it is the aftermarket support,lockers gears that type of stuff, depending on you off roading style and tire size the 35 will work for you just fine. the c clip is what holds the axle into the carrier so it cant slide out. depending on those things i would say invest money else where, imho hope this helps

 

you'll come to find out that a 29 spline 8.25 out of a 97+ XJ is a worthwhile upgrade for the dana 35. the 35 is pretty much the lowest of all axles, and i myself wouldn't put any money into upgrading it.

in order to run disc brakes you'll need to pull some off of a ZJ with a dana 35, ZJ's never came with an 8.25. i'm almost positive there direct bolt in to your existing 35, but i wouldn't waste my time with that axle... just my opinion

in order to run the ZJ disks on the 8.25 all you need to do is grind out the hole in the center of the backing plate to fit over the axle tube, since the axle tube is a bit bigger than that of the dana 35. theres plenty of write-ups out there covering this

 

converting a 8.25 to disc isnt hard at all. I have done it to mine, just took all the stuff off of a ZJ and installed it. Made a huge difference with braking, but the parking brake was a little bit difficult to get setup, going to need new cables, or mod your current ones. Make sure you get the p valve body and swap it with yours so its properly set for disc brakes.

 

Hey man, don't go with the cheapy 8 1.4" rear, you can get a 8.8 Ford Explorer rear end with disc brakes and posi-trac for around 250.00 or 300.00. It's way stronger, rivals a 9" for strength, I put one in my 84 along with a Auburn Ected Locker and the Super 8.8 kit made by Superior Axle, comes with new Chromemoly axles and C-clip eliminator kit, makes it the same width as the stock axle and bullitproof to boot. Chevokeeman.

 

ok, here is the easiest option. take the disc brake setup off of a d35 zj and install on your d35.

or you can take a 8.25 29 spline out of an auto XJ and install Jeep liberty rear disc brakes onto that.

those would be your only 2 "bolt in" options, that would still retain your gear ratio.

 

thats a little more involved than a disc brake swap.

 

^x2 The 8.8 swap will cost about twice as much as the 29 spline Chrysler 8.25, and the main thing is if you don't plan on running anything over 35-36 inches the 8.25 will handle it just fine.

 

Hmm on the hunt for a junked jeep liberty now. Gunna put some discs on my c8.25