stupid D44 disc brake swap question

i've read all the writeups, and bought all the parts from a local junkyard.

but i keep hearing that 2 of the holes line up, but 2 need to be re-drilled. well none of my holes line up. so that's when i started wondering..........it always says to get ZJ disc brakes. but weren't there 2 different grand cherokee's??? what's the difference between the ZJ and the other grand cherokee???

if i did get the brakes off the other one, it shouldn't matter. all i have to do is adapt the caliper to axle tube bolt pattern. other than that, everything else shouldn't matter right???

The bolt patterns not lining up is normal. You have two choices, either redrill your disc brake brackets and use the XJ Dana 44 retainer plates, or weld up the holes on the the flange for the 44, redrill them to the ZJ pattern, and use Rubicon retainer plates. I chose the later, and it worked well, now just having problems with leaky seals...


Here's some links about the swap
http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/technicalfiles/BAzjRearDiscsOnXJ/ZJrearDiscsOnXJ.htm
http://www.stu-offroad.com/suspension/d44brake/bc-1.htm

so there is no actual brake difference between ZJ and whatever that other grand cherokee is called???

WJ
and yes, different bolt pattern.

I'm not sure if the 4 bolts that hold the backing plate on are spaced out differently.

how do you tell a ZJ and a WJ apart???

WJ's are not the same wheel bolt pattern.

scorpio_vette said:

how do you tell a ZJ and a WJ apart???

Click to expand...

One way is to look at them.

ZJ:


WJ:


ZJ's ran from '93 to '98, WJ's from '99 to '04.

I used Crown Vic brackets which bolted right up to the XJ D44. In either case, I wouldn't re-use the XJ retainer plates, as it won't hold the bearing in properly due to the difference in thickness between the drum backing plate and disc bracket.

i've done a disc brake conversion on my wifes TJ D44. but i cheated a little by buying complete rear disc brakes off of a 03 rubicon. so they obviously bolted up without any moding at all.

so i got the general idea, i just wasn't sure if other than changing the caliper bracket bolt patter for the older XJ D44's, there would be any other problems such as the rotor or some other crap being to big or something.

the bolt holes wont line up...
I redrilled the backing plates on the ZJ you can slot 2 holes & redrill the other 2. open up the center hole on the backing plates & Then i bought rubicon bearing retainer plates from the dealer (6 bucks total) redrilled those . Works for me. No leaks.....
yet anyway... :viking: