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About to buy an XJ, need help!

F

FriscoCHL

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Texas
Hello naxja, i have been reading and learning alot over a short period of time from all yall. I have been looking to buy an xj for awhile now and to make a long story short a friend of mine is selling one. Its a '01 sport 4x4 with a 140k on the dial. it already has a 4.5 in lift and 33's, that he just put on about a mounth ago. the jeep is super clean in and out and i almost bought it on the spot. he said he is selling it cause he wants to go a differnent direction with his build and would like to start over. here she is.

Jeep1.jpg


So here is the problem. the other day he walked out and there was a puddle under the right rear tire. as i work on cars for a living he brought it to me to check out. ends up being a blown wheel cylinder. no prob, right. so i get started to work on replacing shoes and WCs. the first set of shoes is wrong, no problem we get the wrong parts all the time. well the 2nd, and 3rd were not right. WTF is going on here... this is where it gets interesting, after alittle research and sending the old ones back with the parts driver to get them matched up. he finds the right ones and says that it matches to a part number from a 1989 XJ!!!!!!! call the jeep house and talk to there parts guy and he said that XJs from this era normaly came with a chrysler 8.25 and this jeep has an d35 in it that the brakes match up to an '89 or older!!!!!!! AND it has no ABS wiring as the front does. diff is stamped 35 here

Jeep2_35.jpg

another
Jeep3.jpg


so my question is, is why? why would anyone put a "weaker" OLDER axle under their jeep? AND IS IT WORTH BUYING?!?! only thing i can think of is my "friend" pulled it out to put under his new one when i buy this one and didnt think i would notice. or the original owner did it, but the jeep was stock when he got it. i am super disappointed cause i really liked this XJ. thanks for your help in advance.
 
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Looks like a nice looking jeep! Does or did this one have ABS? They still used d35's for the ABS system. Maybe someone swapped the ABS rear out and went with 10" brake D35. My 88 had 10" rears. Are you going to wheel it or just like the look of a lifted jeep? Easy enough to find a 8.25 that will bolt in if you want. What does that tag on the diff say, maybe someone swapped in 4.10 running gear from an older jeep?

O.K. I should read whole post apparently!
No ABS in rear but in front. Sounds like the origional one took a dump and was replaced with whatever was found in the "yard"!
 
FriscoCHL said:
why would anyone put a "weaker" OLDER axle under their jeep?
Click to expand...

Here's the thing: in 2000, an XJ could have come with either a D35 or a C8.25. If it originally had ABS, it would definitely have had a D35 as this was the only rear axle ABS models were supplied with. However, there are also non-ABS D35s, and all C8.25s should be non-ABS. As an example, my 2000 left the factory with ABS and a D35, but the '01 that it replaced was a non-ABS D35.

As for the axle being from an '89, I suspect that was the first year your parts guy saw and stopped looking past that point - unless there was something specific to '89 model year brakes that were used on it, in which case I'd guess that something broke and was replaced with junkyard parts from an earlier model.

AND IS IT WORTH BUYING?!?!
Click to expand...

There's no good way to answer that from a couple of photos - you'll have to go over it and determine the condition for yourself. From your description, though, I can't think of anything that would raise any immediate red flags.

only thing i can think of is my "friend" pulled it out to put under his new one when i buy this one and didnt think i would notice. or the original owner did it, but the jeep was stock when he got it.
Click to expand...

I'm really leaning towards it having left the factory with that D35 in the back and the parts guy wasn't quite reading things correctly, or the catalogues he was consulting were wrong.

Don't sweat over the D35 too much; there are D44s and C8.25s out there for replacing it.

88xjlover said:
Maybe someone swapped the ABS rear out and went with 10" brake D35. My 88 had 10" rears.
Click to expand...

Not to mention that police package XJs are also known to have received 10" drums...
 
the cat we looked at showed the same part number back to 91 or 90 for the 10 in drums and they were wrong. the 89 and older 10 by 1 3/4 shoes fit. and the front has ABS and the rear does not.
 
Ian Christiansen said:
And it looks like it has the UpCountry Package from the tow hooks and the transfer case skid.
Click to expand...

Not sure if it actually has all of the UpCountry skids or not, but from what I can tell of the one at the transfer case it's probably had a transfer case drop. Look at the spacers between the t-case skid/crossmember and frame rails.
 
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Is it still worth buying? Sure. If the price is right.

Has the xj been regeared? 33s on stock gearing isn't very fun for a DD, but is managable.

ALL abs equipped xj's came with the turdy-five rear end. But you said it has no wss wiring, so maybe it was swapped in because it already had the gears he wanted int it? Who knows...

The 35 will last you a while on the street, but ou will want to swap out that rear axle if you plan on taking this thing offroad. A quick trip to the junkyard could get you a 29 spline 8.25 or the elusive xj dana 44. If you're comfortable with welding new spring perches pick up a ford 8.8" .

Does he have a SYE (slip yoke eliminator) installed yet? You'll want one on a late model at 4.5" of lift.
 
FriscoCHL said:
and the front has ABS and the rear does not.
Click to expand...

Does it have an ABS master cylinder, or a 'regular' master cylinder?

My guess is that someone blew the original D35 up, went to the junkyard, couldn't find an ABS D35 that would work with a 2000, and replaced it with what they could get. Pull two fuses and a relay in the PDC and your ABS is disabled (and no ABS light will come on).

XJs always had 4-channel ABS - there was no such thing on them as front- or rear-only ABS.

Late edit: is it just me, or do the degree shims in the rear leaf pack look like they're installed backwards?
 
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casm said:
Does it have an ABS master cylinder, or a 'regular' master cylinder?

My guess is that someone blew the original D35 up, went to the junkyard, couldn't find an ABS D35 that would work with a 2000, and replaced it with what they could get. Pull two fuses and a relay in the PDC and your ABS is disabled (and no ABS light will come on).

XJs always had 4-channel ABS - there was no such thing on them as front- or rear-only ABS.

Late edit: is it just me, or do the degree shims in the rear leaf pack look like they're installed backwards?
Click to expand...

He mentioned the wiring in the front and not in the rear. I wasn't being very clear on my post!
 
Deleted.
 
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yeah that looks like the 35 under my friends V8 94 ZJ. I know 35's are all junk, but are the older 35s with the "rough" drum stronger then the late 35's with the "smooth" drum? Like the 35 in my TJ has smaller smooth drums.
 
88xjlover said:
Is it me or does that rear leaf pack look kinda funny? Like the leafs aren't put together in the right order? Shouldn't the bottom leaf be the shortest?
Click to expand...

thats another thing. the leafs are slightly different from side to side. the spacers circled are not in the other side.

Jeep31.jpg


i am not really worried about the rear end being a D35. it just bothers me that from what i can tell its twice as old as the jeep...

ETA: no SYE
 
soopergoober said:
Is it still worth buying? Sure. If the price is right.

Has the xj been regeared? 33s on stock gearing isn't very fun for a DD, but is managable.

he says it has not, but it drives very nice. picks up fine and rides about 1800 rpm at 55-60.

ALL abs equipped xj's came with the turdy-five rear end. But you said it has no wss wiring, so maybe it was swapped in because it already had the gears he wanted int it? Who knows...

The 35 will last you a while on the street, but ou will want to swap out that rear axle if you plan on taking this thing offroad. A quick trip to the junkyard could get you a 29 spline 8.25 or the elusive xj dana 44. If you're comfortable with welding new spring perches pick up a ford 8.8" .

Fab is not a prob as i weld every day. i just dont have the funds to build a rear end if this 20 year old one blows up in a month...

Does he have a SYE (slip yoke eliminator) installed yet? You'll want one on a late model at 4.5" of lift.

no it does not
Click to expand...
 
id vote try to find an 8.8 or an 8.25 with matching gears to ur front and just throw it in. also since its wierd id just take the little spacer things on the one side out. the bottom leaf is the smallest but theres a overload leaf on the bottom of the pack above the spacers. not sure why you would put an over load on an xj since overloads arent used on them normally, only helpful of u plan on haulin crap.
 
Not to be an ass about it, but that's a strange question for someone to ask who said they work on cars for living. If they don't match, the front and rear axles will be turning at different speeds which will cause things to go boom when it's in 4wd.
 
FriscoCHL said:
noob question? why do the front and rear have to match?
Click to expand...

If the front and rear gear ratios don't match, the front and rear axles will turn at different speeds. This will cause the entire driveline to bind, with two results: not being able to go anywhere and potentially damaging the driveline (notably the transfer case).
 
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