XJ Fun

That's my dilemma. KJ or ZJ rear discs. I have been looking at forums all over. Thread after thread. It seems like who ever does the KJ say it's the KJ and so on for the ZJ. I have the 8.25". I know, KJ bolts right on . ZJ need to grind the backing plate. I already picked up the KJ, then found out they have possible problems for they have plastic caliper pistons, REALLY plastic. Anyway, I know to use the prop valve for the ZJ from the ZJ, what about with KJ. Can I use the ZJ prop? Don't think the KJ will work. Thanks all for your patience, newbee to this forum, or any forum.

SatiricalHen

I did a kj swap no problems with mine yet (knock on wood) you still use the zj prop valve and whatever you choose for parking brake cables. Neither is really better than the other. I just chose kj because it's a direct swap and it was easy to get to in the junkyard.

XJ Fun

That sounds reasonable. Did you use the KJ brake hard lines and just change the fitting off the XJ? And looped over the E cable over itself? I have the total KJ package I picked up at the JY, (Grabbed the E cables to). Ill pick up a ZJ prop valve. We live in Colorado, lots of snow, don't need those backs locking up on me.
Thanks for your tip on the ZJ valve and your reply.

SatiricalHen

I just bent a new hardline because mine broke messing with it. I used a soft line off of something to join the hardline to the caliper but can't remember off the top of my head. I have a whole thread about the swap from when I did it. I also bought parking brake cables from a website specifically for an xj disc brake swap.

tommyxj2000

Do you remember the site you got the cables from, just did the swap and was looking for something to do with the cables

SatiricalHen

I just googled it and there were like 4 sites. The part numbers are in my thread about the rear brake conversion.

Fred/N0AZZ

Big David is the person to ask about this I have saw him post on both of these and he sells used kits also, he has been doing this for quite some time. In fact I have one of his complete ZJ kits for my XJ with an 8.25.


Lots will speculate but he should know which is best, he can advise on what cables to get also.

cruiser54

It's a toss-up. Either way, use the guts only from the prop valve and save yourself some grief.

Big David

^^^what he said^^^

As for cables, I suggest you get them locally. Or you can use small cable clamps (less than $1) & loop the end over the arm & clamp it.

Zoom in

cruiser54

I think that's what I did. It was so easy, I've forgotten since then.

XJ Fun

East Coast Gear and Supply. Stock # EBC-XJ. Some dude there said he thinks they would work. I probably need to do some more research though.

XJ Fun

So I have everything together for the kj swap. I have a 96. I don't need the short and long cable they would be the same length on my 96. Will the KJ cables I have fit? The cable clamp is definitely an option. Really appreciate you all expertise.

Paul Standaert

Like everyone else noted, there isn't much information out there regarding ZJ vs KJ rear brakes.

Getting the backing plate to bolt to the axle is apparently no big deal. I just grabbed the KJ parts from a 2006 out of the junk yard yesterday.

The ZJ brake pads will not fit in the KJ. The ZJ units are a bit longer, but much skinnier. The KJ is a fatter brake pad, and has substantially more surface area with which to grab the rotor. Also, you can probably get the KJ caliper to interchange with the ZJ, but the KJ is made to handle a fatter brake pad. They weigh a notable amount more, too.

Doing the actual swap is months into the future at this point. I will be pulling the axles to install the ARB air lockers, and at the same time, the brake upgrade will be happening. The classic WJ front brake swap will happen, too.

DustyWagoneer

I did the ZJ swap a couple weeks back (happy I did the 4W disc. conversion). Mine is a 1993, so the cables will be the same on your 96.
The cables I went with were from Quadratech, and are made by RT Offroad. They are part #RT31039. Both cables will be the same size on XJs up to 96.

I did have to cut a few rings on the spring at the caliper end, but they worked out really well. My ebrake works fine too.

vroomvroom

That looks really clean! Nice setup!

I did the KJ swap and it was pretty straight forward, but time consuming. First, I tried grinding the spring that goes over the emergency brake cable and fold it over. That didn't go so well. I ended up saying screw it and bought the same emergency brake cables you mentioned from Quadratec. I'd say forget trying to modify the original emergency brake cable and get the one from Quadratec instead. Much cleaner.