WJ axle swap for brake upgrade

I have read several articles about swapping WJ knuckles, brakes, and steering onto the XJ D30. However, is it possible to swap the whole D30 axle from the WJ to get the steering, knuckles, and brakes? I have not been able to find a direct answer to this question.

Thanks

It is possible, but there are plenty of reasons you dont want to. Its wider, the spring buckets are wider, the wheel bolt pattern is wrong, Its low pinion, and you still would have to mess with the steering once you get it in there. There are many write ups out there on how to get wj knuckles steering and brakes. There is no real easy way to do it. It will require some fabrication. Probably the simplest thing you could do is wj knuckles with the .25" spacers, brakes with the rotors drilled to 5 on 4.5, reuse xj unit bearings, and run stock xj steering. your options are limited with steering because changing it means relocating the track bar.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=75157
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/brakes/xj_wjbrakes03/knuckles/index.htm
http://www.jeepsrus.org/index.asp?p=Tech_WJhubs001
here are some write ups I found helpful. I did not follow any of them exactly, but used the ideas from all of them.
So to answer your question, there is no bolt in approach to wj knuckles steering and brakes. If you know how to weld, and trust your welds on a dd, its not impossible.
hope thats the information you were looking for.
Lightfoot

The track bar bracketry is different too iirc.

I'd try really hard to keep the WJ steering, it is also an upgrade - stronger, and the toe won't change as the suspension cycles since it's a knuckle to knuckle tie rod + separate drag link.

http://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?7906-Ridgerunner-s-WJ-knuckle-swap-build

Try this

I love it i did it on my YJ Works great
I wouldnt do the whole axle though

I guess if that is the case, is it easier to buy the WJ axle and steering and strip the necessary parts rather than trying to piece it together?

Yeah, what you need from the wj axle will depend on how you want to approach the build. If you want as little welding/ fab work as possible you will need: The knuckles, caliper brackets, calipers, rotors and brake lines (you can grab the unit bearing too, but you will not need it). Also, grab the lower ball joints, tie rod, and drag link. steal the steering stabilizer bracket too. It can be reused. it requires a cutoff wheel. You will need to buy from jks or another supplier, a correct length tie rod, and draglink, .25" knuckle spacers, otk track bar bracket, w and an adjustable shortened track bar. Fab work will be: welding spacers to knuckles, welding track bar bracket, weld stabilizer bracket to axle tube, and drilling rotors to 5 on 4.5. once all this is done, it should all bolt together reusing your xj shafts, and unit bearings.

If you dont mind more fab work, you can save money by cutting and sleeving the wj tie rod, and drag link, and you can build your own axle end bracket.
Best place to start is definitely with the whole front end from the wj. you wont use the center sections, gears or shafts, but just about everything else.

mvanhaerents said:

I guess if that is the case, is it easier to buy the WJ axle and steering and strip the necessary parts rather than trying to piece it together?

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In all reality, you only need the knuckles. Rotors, pads, calipers, caliper brackets, unit bearings, ect.. can be bought seperately. Depending on axle condition, price, ect.. it might be cheaper to buy new parts seperately.

ill add that I got my axle off craigslist for 200$ with control arms, the track bar, everything. freshly pulled from a running wj. buying new parts would have been way more expensive for me, but it depends how much you can find an axle for.

The fabrication side is not a problem, I've got a MIG and a TIG. I was not aware that the WJ had a steering stabilizer on it. Did you weld the both the axle bracket and the frame bracket from the WJ? Also, do I use the XJ or WJ unit bearings?

Its also wider than an XJ axle, IIRC.

Reusing balljoints is kinda ghetto especially when you can get brand new spicers for around 110 shipped (both lowers and both uppers) from alljeep.

I had toyed around with this idea a time or two, but what about using the WJ inner C? Swap the inner Cs and use all the WJ outer stuff on your axle of choice?

kastein said:

Reusing balljoints is kinda ghetto especially when you can get brand new spicers for around 110 shipped (both lowers and both uppers) from alljeep.

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I got mine for $92 shipped.

hot_rod_hooligans said:

I had toyed around with this idea a time or two, but what about using the WJ inner C? Swap the inner Cs and use all the WJ outer stuff on your axle of choice?

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Are you talking about cutting off the inner C off the WJ axles? If I did that, what shafts would I use with WJ inner and outer C's but the narrower track width?

No need to use the inner c's I believe they are the same. The upper ball joints are the same, the lowers have a different taper. By putting a lower wj ball joint in your xj C, it becomes identical to the wj C. It wont help the need for the spacer either, because the way I understand it, the need for it is a result of different stub shaft lengths. If you run ALL wj stuff on your outers, you will need to get 5 on 5.5 wheels, and a matching rear pattern, or re drill the wj hubs and rotors to 5 on 4.5. The only thing you avoid by doing that is caliper spacers, and no one seems to have issues with them.
no argument that re using ball joints is not a good idea. I grabbed the old ones to put on my mock-up axle so I could get it set up before doing the swap.

Lightfoot is correct as far as I know.

Remember though, if you go WJ outer shafts, you are going to be wandering into CV joint stupidity land, the WJ (as far as I can tell) uses CV shafts on all models/trim packages and so you'll have to use WJ inner shafts as well, and probably get them resplined/shortened. With the CV shaft requirement, simply not worth the trouble IMO, weld the spacer on and forget about it.

kastein said:

Lightfoot is correct as far as I know.

Remember though, if you go WJ outer shafts, you are going to be wandering into CV joint stupidity land, the WJ (as far as I can tell) uses CV shafts on all models/trim packages and so you'll have to use WJ inner shafts as well, and probably get them resplined/shortened. With the CV shaft requirement, simply not worth the trouble IMO, weld the spacer on and forget about it.

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I will probably just stick with the XJ stuff on the C's. Is there a recommendation on what reamer to retaper the lower ball joint for the WJ?

mvanhaerents said:

I will probably just stick with the XJ stuff on the C's. Is there a recommendation on what reamer to retaper the lower ball joint for the WJ?

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Just use a WJ lower ball joint with the WJ knuckle, problem solved. No need to ream anything. XJ lower ball joint for the XJ knuckle.

Im going to throw this out there as something I have noticed, but isn't really mentioned in any other write ups. It goes without saying that you should always know the condition of your bushings, but while you have your jeep apart anyway, take the time to at least do a thorough check of your control arm bushings. On XJ parts, I had no issues at all with bump steer, or death wobble. After the WJ install, I have no bump steer, even at 80 on a dirt road, but I do get death wobble under hard braking, If I start braking at the same time I hit a bump. At first I though something was off with my geometry, and I was blaming it on the wj install, since I didnt have those issues before. I have come to the conclusion though that because the wj brakes stop about twice as hard as the xj brakes, its making the poor condition of one of my LCA bushings really show. Its a bit disappointing though because they are less than 2 years old, and RC wants 40$ for new ones. I dont even wheel my jeep.
I guess all im trying to say, is make sure everything else is in good shape when you do this swap, because the added performance of the brakes will really make it show if you dont.

Lightfoot, I'm planning on doing a RE 5.5" lift at the same time as the swap, so I will go through the bushings. I'm not sure if I will get Poly or Rubber, but its worth the extra $$ when I have everything apart.