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D44 read disc, ZJ, exploder or crown vic?

S

sardo_67

NAXJA Forum User
Location
western CT
after getting my new to me 99 XJ with a D44 (80s tow package model) and with it came ZJ brake parts for the rear i am not sure what to use exactly.
looked at these threads
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=967146
and
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1045256

my brother just put wilwood on his ford 8.8 rear (big waist of time) i now also have the parts of his 8.8 available. he was running 97 Explorer rear brakes on that.

ZJ brakes are pretty messed up and only can be used for the rotors or core turn in.

97 Explorer were working fine when he took them off but i am not seeing at lot of info on using the Explorer but i am guessing they are close to the crown vic set up.

my question is which way is the easiest for me? also what parts would i need to complete this? i know there is a Rubicon spacer needed but other than that anything special?
 
I had good luck with explorer backing plates calipers pads and teraflex spacer zj rotors. The zj rotors were like 3 thousands different. Some say it centers a little better but doubt it maks the big a deal.

The ford backing plates take much less work to fit than the zj stuff. Everything is pretty straight forward.

Josh
 
yes, the D44 in mine came out of the late 80s XJs with the tow package. its one of the direct bolt in ones.

while doing the rear end last night i didn't think to try and his old parts onto my axle. what exactly do i need for a spacer? is it the same spacer regardless of the kit or parts i use? if so i'll go ahead and order that soon, the guy i bought my XJ from said i can order the Rubicon spacer directly from the dealer for just a few bucks.
said to just go ask for the spacer in the D44 rear on a 2004 TJ Rubicon
 
Last edited:
sardo_67 said:
yes, the D44 in mine came out of the late 80s XJs with the tow package. its one of the direct bolt in ones.

while doing the rear end last night i didn't think to try and his old parts onto my axle. what exactly do i need for a spacer? is it the same spacer regardless of the kit or parts i use? if so i'll go ahead and order that soon, the guy i bought my XJ from said i can order the Rubicon spacer directly from the dealer for just a few bucks.
said to just go ask for the spacer in the D44 rear on a 2004 TJ Rubicon
Click to expand...

The bolt pattern on the flange is different. I used the teraflex spacer and stock retainer plates. You will need new seals and bearing on the shafts either way. Unless you cut the spacers to fit.

You would need to fill the holes and redrill the tj plates to match
 
i just did new everything in the rear last night because the seals were SHOT! is it possible to cut the spacer in half and the backing plate so i can put them on without having to change all of the bearings out again?
 
The spacer is just to take up the space where the backing plate was, I cut the center out of the stock backing plate and made the spacers out of it.

Im running XJ D30 brakes on my D44.

I couldnt find pics of the spacers but if you look on the floor in this pic you can see what I took from the backing plates.
2012-07-23193924.jpg
 
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Ive done multiple crown vic setups, as they are very easy to find at the junkyards, but they put one caliper forward of the rear axle, and one to behind, which can make e-brake cable routing more complicated.

As far as the bearing retainer plates, ive allways read of people cutting them out so you dont have to press the bearing retainer ring on and off again, and i thought this was pretty hokey...

That is untill i installed a wilwood brake kit on a hot rod project, they come notched in a c- shape from the factory. Granted they are a little bit thicker material.
 
xcm said:
Ive done multiple crown vic setups, as they are very easy to find at the junkyards, but they put one caliper forward of the rear axle, and one to behind, which can make e-brake cable routing more complicated.

As far as the bearing retainer plates, ive allways read of people cutting them out so you dont have to press the bearing retainer ring on and off again, and i thought this was pretty hokey...

That is untill i installed a wilwood brake kit on a hot rod project, they come notched in a c- shape from the factory. Granted they are a little bit thicker material.
Click to expand...

What is the reason for the on caliper being mounted on the front side of the tube on one side? OP has the entire setup that I just took off of my 8.8 (caliper brackets, calipers, hoses and disks) and I can't see why one would need to be mounted upside down on the 44. I wasn't looking at the bracket and the axle at the same time though, could have missed some important details there.

~Alex
 
I'm pretty sure they did it so they can use the same caliper on both sides (bleeder valve stays at the top) but could be wrong.
 
"♫♪Thats just the way it is♫♪", by that i mean, thats the way ford made them. The backing plates mount them that way, and if you were able to reverse them, you would need two rights, or two left calipers, as kastein eluded to.
 
xcm said:
"♫♪Thats just the way it is♫♪", by that i mean, thats the way ford made them. The backing plates mount them that way, and if you were able to reverse them, you would need two rights, or two left calipers, as kastein eluded to.
Click to expand...
i flipped my backing plate and i just took off the calliper when i bleeded the system on that side. easy enough, seeing that you barely ever need to bleed them.
 
I opted to go for the ZJ brakes to keep my Jeep, Jeep. I just like the idea of going up to the parts counter and still asking for Jeep parts. Thats just me. I picked up all my parts at my local junkyard for $50 even had what appeared to be a fresh set of rotors and pads before the Jeep was junked. I know not a good idea to run junkyard pads but they really are in like new condition almost no brake dust and the pads' backing plates still have shiny paint on them so I am going to give them a try and see how they do. Worst case they don't stop too well and I will just swap out the rotors and pads. No big deal.

The ZJ brakes required me to re-drill the backing plates and I opted to go for the TJ retainer plates with the built in spacer so I had to weld those up and re-drill them to match as well. It takes a little more work but I like how it is coming along. Can't report on performance since the I am not done rebuilding the axle but we swapped the ZJ brakes onto my cousin's Chrysler 8.25 and he likes them alot and says they stop pretty good and now he has a parking brake that actually works.
 
I ran junkyard pads and rotors for an entire year on my ZJ swap before they wore out, you'll be fine. Just make sure to keep each rotor with the side it came off of so the pads are properly bedded in with the same rotor already or their wear profiles probably won't match up perfectly.
 
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