Regear 8.25 or swap 8.8?

Hi everyone I got a 96 Xj and I was curious if it would be worth rehearing the 8.25 or if I should swap an 8.8? It is a 27 spline I'm assuming stock axle. It has 3.55s and is welded, which I have no issue with this rig is not my DD and it was a free locker . Now I want to regear to 4.88s, I'm keeping the d30 for sure. I know that 2 of the ring gears need shaved for this to work in the 8.25. My main concern is strength and integrity of the 8.25, I have 34x10.50s right now and it's handled them and the abuse I put it through fine, but I'm planning on 35x12.50s at some point. I don't want to put the money into gears and taking the time to set them up for the axle to fail, should I be okay with my setup and an 8.25? Or is there no point.

The thing I like about the 8.25 is the clearance, and it's already in the damn rig. With an 8.8 I would have to figure out the e brake cable, swapping to a disc brake MC, flipping the perches and getting it welded in all square, but it is worth the strength. If the 8.25 can handle the load though I'm not too worried about it, and I don't care if they disc or drum brakes, doesn't matter to me I work on brakes all day and can set them up to work great so that part ain't a deciding factor to me.

Here's a pic of her btw! Don't know how to set it as my avatar...

An 8.8 swap requires welding of the perches and shock mounts but it would be a nice swap(disc brakes, larger R&P ect.) but a 29 spline 8.25 with zj disc is also easy.

clean4drxj said:

a 29 spline 8.25 with zj disc is also easy.

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This is definitely a smart budget option. I have seen 8.25s thrashed with 35" tires on the trail no issues. Your axle may be a 29 spline if it was produced late in 96. There are also ratchet lockers for 29 spline 8.25s too! atriot:

clean4drxj said:

An 8.8 swap requires welding of the perches and shock mounts but it would be a nice swap(disc brakes, larger R&P ect.) but a 29 spline 8.25 with zj disc is also easy.

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Explain this in more detail please. Is it still a leaf sprung axle or is it coils? I already have 4.88's in my 27 spline 8.25 but am trying to find an LSD 8.25 29 spline to gut and convert mine to disc but if there is already an option for me to directly bolt on one, I'll go that route as well.

8.8 is leaf springs but the location/orientation of the mounts are completely different from an xj.

clean4drxj said:

8.8 is leaf springs but the location/orientation of the mounts are completely different from an xj.

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I misunderstood your response about the 8.25. I thought you were saying you could find an 8.25 under a ZJ with disc and bolt it on directly. I'd never heard that before and thought it was odd.

Oh. No, I was simply saying use ZJ disc brakes on the 8.25.

I beat my 4.88 8.25 on 37s for a long time and had less issues than when I ran 35s on a 4.56 44.

Fair enough thanks for the input everyone I'll just regear the 8.25

also curious since im going to have to change the front carrier i was considering putting some sort of locker up front. or the true trac LSD, i like to do a lot of snow wheeling and i dont know that it would positively effect traction in the snow.. an open carrier is 80$.. also how would my axleshafts hold up with the locker? would i be blowing them up left and right?

I have a buddy with 4:10 and 35's on his 8.25, not sure on spline count. But he has had that gear setup for about 3 years and maybe 30-40,000 miles and hasn't had any issues with the axle. Plenty of good wheeling trips as well. And he's the kind to complain really bad and make the worst of every situation so we would all know if he had the slightest problem. I would say you are good with regearing the 8.25.

cp2295 said:

Here's a pic of her btw! Don't know how to set it as my avatar...

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HTH:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/payments.php

cp2295 said:

also curious since im going to have to change the front carrier i was considering putting some sort of locker up front. or the true trac LSD, i like to do a lot of snow wheeling and i dont know that it would positively effect traction in the snow.. an open carrier is 80$.. also how would my axleshafts hold up with the locker? would i be blowing them up left and right?

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I can't say for sure on my rig and the rigs I'm comparing to are leaps and bounds better than what I have but I had plenty of fun in the snow running open/open. It was soft pack and about 16" and I started drifting on a slope and could never recover. The Rubi's and Unlimited went though with difficulty and then snatched me out of the rut I was stuck in. They were locked and 5-600 lbs heavier. I was spinning 3 wheels but the one that needed to go that actually had traction stood there and mocked me. Had I been locked, I would have at least been able to find out if that wheel would have been enough momentum to get my back on top of the snow. I agree floating on the snow with 8 psi in the tires doesn't require lockers but once stuck, I sure would have loved them. Lockers are the next item on my list after I get proper recovery points.

I swapped a 8.8 in to mine a few months ago. The swap was actually pretty easy. I found one with 4:10 and lsd, because I had dana 30 4:10s already. Now if I remember right I used a chevy brake line,also I just used the shock mounts from the 8.25. Then I cut the ebrake tab off the 8.25 and we led it to the 8.8s tab. The I used some 4x6 box tubing 1/4 think to make longer spring perches. The I took a piece of flat stock 1/4 x 4 and made my top plate for the preches. This allowed me to use bolts instead of u-bolts plus the longer perches help with axle rap. Here is a picture of the preches.[/URL][/IMG]

Even if you find a 8.8, with discs, it will still need to be regeared to your desired 4.88, plus adding whatever locker or limited slip you want.
It's a long, envolved project that required skills with welding and gear setting.

Fyi the 8.8 factory lsd does not except the typical lunchbox lockers. The only lunchbox that fits is around 500$ so its better off you find an open model. The tracloc lsd is worthless in the rocks even with a cobra carbon fiber disk rebuild and packed extra tight.