What rear axle swap and KEEP the ABS?

Okay, I have been searching, reading and such but did not find an answer to my question.

Is there an axle swap that can be done and keep the ABS?

A couple of my thoughts but don't know if it would work are, using a different Jeep axle (YJ, WJ, etc.) that is better then the D35 but had ABS, if that ever happened. The other idea was swapping the tone rings on an ABS Explorer 8.8 axle with the ring from the D35. I could move the sensors over from the D35 if all I needed to do was create a mount for it.

I want to keep the ABS for on road and insurance reasons and will disable it for offroad. I need to regear/locker the 35 and most say it's not worth doing to it so why not swap axles to something stronger with the right gear/diff. I can get the Explorer rear with discs, 4.10's and LS for less then I am going to regear the D35.

Any ideas or options? Thanks.

BTW, 2000, 4.0, auto, ABS, if that helps.

Any particular reason - really - to keep the ABS? The insurance discount can't really be that good...

I'm also not sure you could get away with "switching" the ABS on and off - just because you knock the controller offline doesn't mean that the hydraulics will act like they're not there as well.

Beyond that, I'd need to know more about the nuts & volts of the setup before I committed to any other advice - and all the ABS docs I've got are for the earlier versions. I'd not be inclined to think it's juts a matter of keeping the sensors and tone rings - you'd have to get the same pulse width for the computer to understand, and maybe the same number of pulses per revolution (not so sure on that one, but computers are literal, and can rarely exceed their programming.

Just a couple thoughts. I'm sure more research is indicated before you proceed.

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I have a 2000 ABS and would really like to keep my ABS, but I have found no solution. I was looking into the 8.8, but decided to go Isuzu 44 for various other reasons. It was rumored that you could modify the 8.8, but never talked to anyone that did. Then I saw an actual write up. For the life of me I haven't been able to find it again. The long and short is that it required some machining. The author said it was a complete PITA, and he didn't know that he would do it again.
One idea was to use the a tone ring twice as big to put on the 8.8 shaft, then remove every other knob. You're on your own with that one.
FYI, the newer ABS is failsafe. If there are any problems, the computer defaults to no ABS. Pulling the fuse for off road works fine. No other axle besides the D35 has ABS. ABS is the whole reason why we have the D35

Just wondering - so they finally "fixed" a few things, then?

I guess I've still got to wonder tho - why keep ABS? I've never been wholly impressed with it - and having driven a few vehicles that had it (and being able to lock up the wheels,) one wonders why. Maybe they've got newer systems out there that actually work, but I didn't learn to drive on ABS-equipped vehicles, and I see no reason to start with the thing now. Just my own opinion...

I guess if you're used to it, you'd want to keep it - but what are kids these days going to do if they have to drive an older vehicle without all these 'safety' systems on it?

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