Swapping front and rears from 88 to ???

I have access to a 95 and a 99 Cherokee and I'd like to pull the front and rear axles assemblies( i.e. - Entire assemblies intact, from the differentials to brakes) from one of them and use them to replace the ones on my 88 XJ 4x4. I'm trying to find out which years are a direct bolt on swap. All of the XJs are 4X4 with 4.0 6 cyl. I can also swap transfer cases and driveshafts if necessary. Can anyone tell me which years will directly transfer without a lot of headaches?


Thanks

Your 88 i believe has a 21 spine input to the tcase. the newer ones are 23 spline input. Can be swapped just have to change the input shaft.

go1lum said:

Your 88 i believe has a 21 spine input to the tcase. the newer ones are 23 spline input. Can be swapped just have to change the input shaft.

Click to expand...

IF he had to change out the transfer case/transmission he would have to deal with that.

Axles will bolt in, the rear DS might be an issue if you end up changing D35/8.25 so the 95 donor might be preferable if that is the case as I believe the rear DS attachment to the transfer case changed 97+.

Good luck.

Hey Thanks A Ton for the replies.

If I understand this correctly, I can just pull the front and rear out of a 99 xj and everything, ( shock mounts, spring mounts driveshafts, etc.) will directly bolt into my 88 xj.

Thanks Again

IF you have a D35 in the 88, and a D35 from the 99, you should be able to just use your 88's rear drive shaft.

IF the 99 has a Chryco 8.25 rear axle, then the drive shaft you have will likely be too long. The drive shaft from the 99 will have a different slip joint arrangement to the transfercase. You will have to resolve that issue if the two axles aren't D35s.

Hey Thanks Joe!

You seem to be phenomenally well versed in this. So hopefully you won't mind another followup:

I don't have the 99 in front of me so I'll have to check the rear end, but if I do end up putting a 8.25 in to replace the 35, is there an easy way to resolve the driveshaft issue? I don't have the luxury of looking at the 2 shafts side by side at the moment for a close up comparison.

Would it be easier to swap the tcase along with the axles or will that just create more issues.

Thanks So Much for the input. I really appreciate the time and effort.

use the driveshaft that was used with the axle you pick ('95 or '99) and use the yoke for the transfer case you pick ('88, '95, or '99) and you should be fine.

I'd keep the T.C. from the '88 (no need to change input shafts for no reason) and use the '99 rear if it's an 8.25" (29 spline shafts) and swap the '99 driveshaft onto the '88 transfer case yoke.


The '99 front axle will get you the larger U-joints as well-- so if it's an 8.25" rear in the '99, it's a win-win!

just make sure you're changing the front from rotor to rotor, as the brake caliper mounts, calipers, rotors, and hub bearings are different from any of the three years.

Shorty has laid it all out for you.

Good luck.

Thanks Shorty.

I appreciate the info. That definitely answers my questions. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Thanks for all the info Joe.

Have a great day.