There's no way they're the factory perches if the axle is on an XJ. XJ width 8.8s are SUA and the mounts aren't even close to the same width as XJ leaf springs.

OP if you really can't do the swap yourself I'd highly suggest finding a JY axle, getting the parts together yourself and buying an angle grinder and remove the perches and shock mounts yourself and grind the tubes smooth so all whoever does it has to do it weld the perches and shock mounts and bolt the axle right in. Should save them from a lot of prep time and billable hours.

Personally I'd find a Jeep club to join and get some free help that way. No reason you can't get in an 8.8 in in an afternoon.

A 4.56 gear with 33's amounts to a stock gear/tire that came in an XJ and can you imagine your XJ now with a (3.55) running a 3.08 gear? That is exactly what you will have with a 4.10 and 33's. You WILL lose MPG with the 4.10's.


I will tell you that 3.55 and 33's really "SUCK" on the highway with the trans always shifting up and down with the slightest breeze or the smallest hill besides the MPG is really bad. When I changed gears I gained over 5 MPG right off the bat and when broken in almost 6.

I agree with this, I laugh at the people who think 3.55 and 33's is fine. Even to me 4.56 leaves more to be desired.

You REALLY need to research before you let that hack anywhere near any rig, axle or baby carriage. I've regeared at least half a dozen of his 8.8' ***** jobs. BUYER BEWARE.
He doesn't honor his warranty and blames everyone under the sun for any problem that comes up.

All depends on how and where you drive. I'll be getting a regear after I get my tax return, just saying it's not like you can't drive the vehicle.

It's broad for a reason. I go to school at Kettering in Flint, which means I also move every three months. In the past year and a half, I've lived in Flint, Flushing, Oxford, Pontiac, and currently Ann Arbor. This summer, I'll be living in Windsor. I leave it as "Eastern Michigan" so I don't have to monkey with it all the time.

I've looked at the East Coast Gear option numerous times, but I always end up making it ridiculously expensive when all is said and done. So I either need to calm myself or just bite the bullet and spend the cash to do this how I want the first time around. Or get an axle that's a direct swap. I would have no problem doing this swap and an SYE if I knew the axle would be a completely bolt-in swap.

Has anyone purchased from East Coast Gear before?

What about a Dana 60 rear/44 front combo?

https://annarbor.craigslist.org/pts/4924253835.html

I have an 01 with with AW4 and Dana 30/35
Looking to swap in a 8.8 soon and regear to 4:56 and get 33" MT tires

You'd be happy with that. I might have to do mine sooner rather than later... moving to Leander, would be a dog on a 2k mi move with a trailer.

Ok, so I'm straying away from the initial topic a little. It sounds like the best option is to go with an 8.25 with 3.55 gearing for now. I'll probably buy an SYE for my NP231 and do both at the same time. So for that final combination, I would be looking for a standard (not super short) SYE, an XJ front driveshaft, new factory u-joints, u-bolts, and the 8.25 and that's it? What spline count should I be looking for? What parts would change if I ended up going with a Dana 44?

'97-'99 will be 29

97-01 is 29 spline. If you got a 8.25, and then later went to a d44, you would need new ubolts again, as the 8.25 has a larger axle tube. The driveshaft would be fine as the 8.25 and d44 have similar length pinion sections. Might need the ebrake cables with the 44, I'm not sure if they are different or not.

Thanks. I knew about the u-bolts, but not the rest. So as it sits right now, I'll be doing every u-joint, along with front brakes, in a couple weeks when I get back to my garage. I decided I might as well do an SYE while I'm at it, so I'll take care of that too. So it sounds like I'll be just watching for a 29 spline 8.25/D44 with 3.55 gears in the meantime. After hearing what everyone has to say, I really think they'll suit my needs perfectly without the added expenses of an 8.8. If I can find an 8.8 at the right price, I'll jump on it but I've calmed down a little bit. I'll also be keeping my eyes open for a HP30 front. After the swap(s) are complete, I'll be going to 4.56 gears and locking the front axle. When all is said and done, I'll have fixed what I believe are the weakest points on my XJ right now. These, along with finding a group to go with, are the main reasons the heeper has been a mall crawler up until this point. I cannot explain how good it feels to have a legitimate plan in motion so I can finally start wheeling. I bought my first XJ because I needed a winter vehicle, it was cheap, and good in the snow. Two years later I have a different, much better, XJ that has developed into a second toy for me, and making it actually useful and stronger has been a big goal for me. Thanks for all the help guys.

Here this will really mess you up.


Find a 2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade and you will have an 8.25 rear axle with 3.73 gears AND disk brakes already supplied. Same bolt pattern. You just have to cut off the coil spring perch and weld on your new Anti-Wrap spring perches at 4° and your off to a good start. I believe the shock mounting is the same. You will need to run an adapter on the brake line because it is metric. Get the e-brake cables from Napa. They are the only ones that fit correctly. Google that. There are several threads with discussions on the e-brake cables.


You can run the 3.73 gears till you can afford to upgrade and get a bit better fuel economy than the 3:55 you'd get from an XJ swap.


The 4° will liner up better with the SYE when you get it. The Anti-Wrap perches can be found just about anywhere for less than $30 and are longer AND Higher than stock. I had to change my shackles after I installed mine because it was higher than my front end!


And lastly if your going to be in Windsor (Ontario?) in the summer I have a set of Brand New Custom Made Grade 8 3" U-bolts you might be interested in. They are 5/8" so you would have to drill out the top plate but are a ton stronger then the 1/2".
I'm 2 hours up the highway and I pass through Windsor from Detroit weekly.

I know this is old as hell, but I hate when OP's ask a question and never tell anyone what they actually ended up doing. I bought a driveshaft and SYE from Adam's out near Las Vegas, and did all that fun stuff in April. Last week, I swapped in an 8.25. 87k on it with a Solid diff cover and lube locker gasket, and I paid $160. The only difficulty was that the PO got lazy and didn't want to take off all the e-brake crap so he just cut the cables right where they split off from the main cable. So I had to screw around with brake shoes and springs (again), which I absolutely hate with a passion. I'll probably do a rear disc conversion and regear to 4.56 and call it a day. Since I only plan on running 33's, I'll hold off on trussing and going chromoly shafts and see how things go. I plan to stay with the LP30, but might build that up and already put chromoly stub shafts in because I broke the ABS gear while trying to press out u-joints.

The only thing that might throw a wrench in the mix is my plan for the engine. I really want to buy a used 4.0 and rebuild it, stroke it to a 4.6, put a pretty aggressive cam in and maybe even supercharge it. Of course this would include headers, ported head, etc. I have no idea if my axles can handle that much power, but this will probably take a year or two to do since it would just be a side project and would keep me from dropping like $4-5k at once.

Oh and this is my DD. I find it very funny that I bought an XJ so I would never have to make my Z28 see snow, but I've done way more to the XJ than I ever have to my Camaro, which I've owned longer as well. It might have something to do with the fact that LT1's are a ***** to work on though and the XJ is cake.