I heard a little about the liberty rear disc break swap. Just trying to find out a little more. How easy is it to do? Is it simply a bolt on process or is there more to it? Every swap kit I've found is like $500, so if I could just go to a junk yard ans pull them and swap them, I'm all for it.

 

Look up a member on here, Big David. He sells full kits he pulls at his JY for ~$150. They are from the ZJ with rear disc brakes. Bought a set from him and was very happy with it.

 

Thanks

 

The liberty brakes are a bolt in swap. The ZJ brakes require a touch of modification but it's nothing you can't handle with a dremel or a file and a little patience.

 

Here's a link on doing the swap.

You'll need longer rear axle studs and the studs to mount the brackets. Super easy.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/re...-8-25-a-57807/

 

And now from someone who has actually done the Liberty swap.

I took everything from the donor I could. even the proportioning valve.
I even took the axle studs.
I didn't take the e-brake cables because they are very long and actually enter the vehicle.
Everything bolts up to your XJ but the hard lines. They are metric while your XJ is imperial. I cut the flare off and cleaned up some of the plastic coating, put new imperial fittings on and double flared the tube.
I'm not a big fan of the rubber hose and hard line combination. I'll look at further modification down the road.
I had replaced my spring perches with antiwrap ones that are much taller than stock so I had someplace to bolt the holding bracket.
My XJ is a 2000 so I had ordered some ebrake cables that are made for an XJ disc brake swap manufactured by Crown. DO NOT GET THESE IF YOU HAVE A 97-01 XJ! Instead get the ones offered by Napa. The crown ones are mismatched and the cable ends protrude to far into the bracket where you adjust the cables.
See picture.


If you have an older XJ apparently the ZJ cables work fine.

Lastly here is what I've got to say about ZJ versus Liberty.
The Liberty is a much more recent vehicle. Up here in the Great White North they use a bazillion tons of salt on the roads in the winter. Just like in Michigan. Any ZJ we could get parts from are rusted beyond belief AND replacement parts are discontinued. Just try asking for a backing plate where the ebrakes are held on, from a stealership.
I thought I had pictures of them all finished on the axle but apparently not.
I'll take some and post again
Nuff said.

 

So ZJ has SAE threads and Liberty Metric?

 

Yep. Found out the hard way.

 

What about the caliper-side fitting? Could one simply use the ZJ hoses?

 

I don't see why not. On the ZJ axle I scrapped, the hose end to the caliper looked identical to just about every caliper end I've seen.
I scrapped it because the backing plates were so rusted through in spots as to be useless.

 

Which cable specifically did you get from Napa, for the passenger side? I plan to order my cable this week, although I did the ZJ swap a few months back. I cut my XJ's factory passenger cable in a rage when I couldn't remove it. I've heard that the cable from a Liberty is a perfect fit...?

Also, some more rep for Big David. His kit was in fantastic shape, and it includes everything. Prop valve internals and wheel studs. The swap was well worth it.

OP, not sure where you're located, but good luck finding a Liberty in a junkyard. There are none in my area.

 

These are the same cables that I got for my install and they are a pain in the booty! I couldn't get them adjusted correctly no matter how many times I tried it. I still have them installed, but by no means are they are correct.. So NAPA is the way to go??

 

I did the swap from a 98 ZJ onto a D35. I took backing plates, calipers, and roters. very easy to install. pull the diff cover, drain fluids, pull axle shafts, remove old brakes (my drums were shot so i just cut everything off) remove the 4 bolts holding the old backing plates on, install new backing plates with same hardware, reinstall shafts, rotors, and calipers, (side note* some time you have to get longer studs to make up for the rotor being thicker) everything bolted right on. took maybe an hour or 2. on a 8.25 its the same process except you need to take a file and file out the opening of the backing plate, where it meets the axle housing. since its slightly larger diameter then a d35. e-brake cables require a little modding to get working but all i did was get new cables. and make a "loop around the connector an secured it with a small steel Ubolt clamp