doing ZJ disc swap on my 8.25 Questions

I'm about half way done with my swap and after searching i found a few different things.

1. People are using "cable clamps" to hook up their e-brake cable, and honestly I'm having a brain fart and can't picture what they would look like or how they work. Does anyone have a picture of one? I figure it's just a clamp (of course) that attaches a cable to another.

My problem. The ZJ has a hook end e-brake cable and the 8.25 has a barrel end e-brake cable. How would i use a cable clamp if i'm not attaching two cables together??

2. Would it be easier to go back to the J.Y. and get the e-brake cables from the donor jeep? Also, I read that the ZJ cables are longer. Are they so long that they wouldn't work in my application? Will the ZJ cables attach the same on the "frame" end of the cable? i didn't take the time to look at the ZJ to see if the e-brake cable was in fact the same.

3. BORING OUT THE BACKING PLATES ARE A F'IN PAIN IN THE ARSE!!!


THANKS

When I did the ZJ brake swap on my 8.25 I used the ZJ cable on the short side and pulled a long side cable from an Explorer with an 8.8. They had the right ends and fit great.

What year jeep do you have if you have the 97+ you can use jeep liberty cables. If older you can use xj or explorer or your original cables.

The cable clamp is a small u-bolt with a clamp end on it google is your friend but here you go http://www.blairwirerope.com/cableclamps.html

finally I just did a swap for my brother I used a hand file and grade 8 bolts did not take me long had all, most use dremels but i like my hand files lol

Thats how i did mine, works great and passed the VA state safety inspection.

thats a fantastic idea you have there

Boring the holes. Its easy to do with the right tools.

Destroyer said:

When I did the ZJ brake swap on my 8.25 I used the ZJ cable on the short side and pulled a long side cable from an Explorer with an 8.8. They had the right ends and fit great.

Click to expand...

x2
This is what I did as well, but I bought the Exploder cable from Auto Zone. No fab required.

got everything all hooked up and working great besides the e-brake cables. Neither of the ZJ e brake cables worked short side or long side. maybe i'll take the ZJ e brake lines back and get some explorer brake lines. Do y'all think i can use bothe the lines? is there a reason you didn't use both e brake lines from the explorer?

What year XJ do you have and how much lift? I've honestly never looked under an earlier XJ (mine is a 99, about 4" of lift) so maybe the ends are different? What made them not work for you?

I only used the long side Explorer line because I had already mounted up the ZJ short line without issue. Both the ZJ short line and Explorer long line were longer than the my factory XJ lines by a good bit but worked out fine.

mine is a 94. i went and got some of those small u-bolts like pictured above, and all is working good. I do need to adjust the tension/tighten the u-bolts cause the line slipped a little bit as i was testing my e-brake on a slight hill.. All in all i'm very satisfied with the swap.

now its time to do my frame stiffeners

whitexj98 said:

x2
This is what I did as well, but I bought the Exploder cable from Auto Zone. No fab required.

Click to expand...

What year model explorers? ID rather just by new ones at the zone too.

Destroyer said:

When I did the ZJ brake swap on my 8.25 I used the ZJ cable on the short side and pulled a long side cable from an Explorer with an 8.8. They had the right ends and fit great.

Click to expand...

MuscleHead said:

What year model explorers? ID rather just by new ones at the zone too.

Click to expand...

Same. IIRC it's the right rear e-brake cable for like a 95-?? explorer. Rockauto has them for cheap, Dorman # C660004, $15.

I used two of those for my MJ, they were a bit too long so I zap strapped em to the top of the axle housing set up so they weren't bent to tightly. Worked and got me through inspection, though I think I need new ebrake shoes now, they stopped working after a few runs.

It's worth noting that there are a few different brake cable setups on the XJ/MJ. MJs (shortbed vs longbed) need somewhat longer cables than an XJ. 96- XJs use two equal length cables, 97+ have the distribution block mounted to the left frame rail and use different length cables.

I did this a few years back & all the above advice is great.

The only complaint I have is that the ZJ "E" Brakes really Suck.
I used New shoes & they are properly adjusted & they still suck, They are only good as a parking brake, I Hope I never have to use them in an emergency.