screwystewy

Hello Everyone! This Is My First Post On This Site But I've Been On Here For Months Creeping Around..Awesome Site! But Anyways Here's My Situation..I Have A 1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport. It Currently Has A Full 3 Inch Lift With 31's. I'm Looking To Go To At Least A 4.5 inch Lift With 33's..I Have The Dana 35 In The Rear And I Know That Their Know To Be Junk Blah Blah Blah. But I Dont Wanna Run 33's On It And Break And Axle In The Middle Of The Woods Then Run Outta Beer And Make For One Long Night haha. I Dont Have A Nice Garage Full Of Nice Tools Welders, Torches, You Get The Idea..I'm Really Intrested In A Ford 8.8 With The Disc Brakes But It Seems Like Alot Of Work To Do. I Have Friends With Awesome Sets Of Tools That I Know Would Be More Than Willing To Help Me Out And Put It In But It Just Seems Like Such A Task And I Dont Wanna Be Taking Up There Garage For Days Doing It. So My Second Option Would Be A Dana 44. But Honestly I Have No Idea What I'm Looking For. Years? And What The One I Want Would Be Out Of. My Last And 3rd Option Would Be Rustys Off Road Super 35 Kit. Has Anyone Done It And If So Is It Worth My Time To Buy? Any Imput Would Be Greatly Appricated..Thanks!

btm24

1st.) 8.8 is an amazing swap and ALOT easier then you may think and VERY easy to find. Just cut off spring perches, sand, paint, new gear oil, weld new perches on and put her in. Only thing else you need is the spring plates for the shocks and new U bolts. The main pluse here is the disk breaks.

Oh and forgot to add if you have time weld the housing on to the tubes, and years are 95-01 explorers

2nd.) The Dana 44 is a great axle, easy to put into an XJ, and good aftermarket support. The bad is that it's not that easy to find and can cost a bit more then most other axles. It also has drums which always sucks

3rd.) Don't do it unless you like tossing $ away.

4th.) Is one you missed which are in later year XJ's the 8.25. Also VERY easy swap jnto an X. Can't think of much bad other then not that easy to find and drums always sucks.

Brandon

xjsnake

Why not get a 29 spline 8.25 out of a newer XJ? Plenty strong for 33's and is 100% bolt in, no welding required. Plus you can find them all over the place.

SuperGlue

x2

Thats what I did, havnt had any problem sense breaking my original 35's shaft on 31's..

xj_maniac_newb

27 or 29 spline 8.25 will be better than the 35, get whichever one you can find. They'll hold up to the 33's just fine.

helmut

97+ Cherokee Chrysler 8.25 have 29 splines. Direct bolt in. Great axle.

dukie564

if you have the tools/welder the 8.8 swap would make more sense. If you're swapping the axle anyways may as well upgrade as much as possible (within reason). The Ford 8.8 and 29-spline Chrysler 8.25 are very close in strength, but the 8.8 still edges out the win IMO.

8.8 swap kits are plentiful and inexpensive, and require minimal work to setup, and 8.8s are very plentiful in junkyards (thank you crappy ford engineering on the rest of the vehicle) in all sorts of gear setups.

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...g/88SS-31.html

scott7689

What about the D44 out of a cherokee wagoneer? like an 87 or 88 model? little harder to find but ive been considering it as an option. figure it would be all bolt on

dukie564

yes it will. best of luck finding them.

screwystewy

Thanks everyone for the info..i've heard of the 8.25 but actually dont know A think about it. I've had my jeep for about 2 years "first jeep" so i'm still trying to learn as much as I can. Money really isnt an issue but if I can find a 8.8 or one of these 8.25 v.s. spending a ton on a 44 then its a no brainer to me lol. My whole issue was having the tools and the garage "live in ohio and its pretty cold up here at the moment lol" But I just got off the phone with my buddy who has alot of jeep experience and put an 8.8 in his and he said he would help me. My next question is lets say I buy the 8.8..What am I looking to spend? I also plan on putting a locker in it so what locker is the best for this axle and what gears should I buy? Best Years? I'm looking to pick up an axle this friday so i'm trying to get all the info now lol Thanks!!

screwystewy

Also can you get an 8.25 with disc brakes??

xjmarc

No but you can put disc off a 96-98 ZJ and they will bolt on with very little modification, got to bore a hole a little. 8.8 is a little overkill and with only 33s plan on chunking out a good bit cause it will hang quite a bit lower than your 35 and the pinion is low as well, 8.25 will be a little lower but not as much.

mdnov

If you are planning on running up to 33's, the Chrysler 8.25 with 29 splines is the best bang for the buck. Easy bolt in, and parts are easy to find.

bheath

I've got a 99 with the 8.25 and 35's and give it hell at least twice a week and have never had any trouble. Great axle in my opinion.