axle swap

Hello all,
I have a 94 xj. I am in the process of installing a RE lift, but am concerned there is too much corrosion. I have found a couple in my area but the best ones are from newer jeeps, 00 or better. Currently my jeep has 3.55 gearing and d30 front 35c rear. I don't plan to run a tire larger that 31 x 10.50

Any thoughts, suggestions. According to the parts programs at the junkyard, 00 axles will not work on a 94, why not. If 3.73 are available would that make more sense.

I don't not plan to do any serious off roading. Just a daily driver.

thanks all

What are you worried about ? Rust on the uni-body or rust on the axle housings ?
Only available axles for the later XJs were either 3:07 or 3:55 .I have never seen a later model with anything else.
Problems with rust on the spring bolts and such can be overcome with lots of PB blaster and time.

Wayne

I am more worried about control arms and mounting points on the axle. For some reason the axles and associated parts, excluding the frame and body, have corroded substantially faster than anything else. My train of thought is, if I am going to replace the control arms, coils etc for the lift, why not replace the corroded axle as well?

yes you are right, 3.73 was only available till 99, which would be an exact replacement, I think.

More info, 00-01, low pinion vs pre-99 high pinion. What does that mean regarding swapping one for the other?

Rust in Maryland ?, yea right. Only if the PO parked the Cherokee directly in the ocean. Try having roadway snow and ice melted with rock salt like in the Midwest. Your axles are not rusty enough to need replacing. Even a 22 year old D44 with minor surface rust from MN is still in good usable condition .

3.73 gears were offered on earlier XJ's. Once Chrysler was in charge, only 3.07 and 3.55 were installed with the 4.0L

Low pinion axles are undesirable for lifted XJ's.

Must be the Salt air--or someone spent a lot of time on the beach---
I have never seen the axle mounts rust off,torn off from off-road use-Yes.Never a case of rust off.
Stock control arms are cheap enough to just replace when necessary around $20 bucks from some suppliers.
High pinion axles are stronger-some say. They are also less prone to vibrations when the Jeep is lifted.

I see no need for you to do anything to the axles you now have.....lift it,new tires & drive it.
if anything find a 4cyl XJ and swap to the 4:10s that were common in them,however you would still have old axles that would be just as corroded as what you have.And the only up-grade I see is if you could find a 8.25 to replace that D35.

Wayne

good enough, I guess I will let em ride for a bit...thats if the mounts hold together through the lift install.

on a side note, it maybe this particular xj was doomed from day one, in 94 I guess a couple 4.0 were assembled with the wrong pistons, the net result was a diesel-esk sounding I-6 engine. this motor was one of them and has since been rebuilt by jeep twice under warranty, they used the wrong pistons again on the first rebuild, and no longer sounds like a diesel. all with less than 100K miles.

the rust is impressive, MD is no slouch on the salt on road technique.

thanks for the help.
dgwelsh

If you end up doing an axle swap, get an 8.25 from a 97+ and the driveshaft that goes with it, keep your old driveshaft in case you want the extra length from the 8.25 vs d35 pinion length difference. Also you can pull disc brakes for an 8.25 off a Liberty if there are any in your local junkyard, around here the Liberties lose their axles or brake hardware real fast at the JY.

thanks Kastein, I will keep that in mind.