D30 non disco to disco swap questions

Ok, so I have spent hours trolling through the forums and still have not came up with a real clear answer to the questions that I have. So if I step on any toes of the forum nazis, I appoligize now.
I have a 93 XJ with D30 up front and a 8.25 in the rear. I came across a 8.25 that had 4.10's in it and a locker so I swapped it in place of my factory rear. That left me rolling with the 3.55's in the front (I pulled the front DS to keep it drivable). While installing my RE 4.5 kit, I realized that the front spring mounts as well as the control arm mounts were rusted VERY bad, actually all the way through in places. So I have decided to swap in a new axle rather then throw the $$ in gears and install fees into a rusted out axle. So, I now have came across a D30 from a 4 cyl XJ that has the 4.10's in it from the factory, but my problem is that it is the vac disco model. I have read about putting a cable "posi lok" unit in it, but I am wondering if I set it up as a full time posi lok would it be OK as a daily driver? With my XJ being a 93, it came with the non disco model and I am wondering if this would pose any problems. I have also read a little about the passenger side axle swap into the disco axle. Would the passenger side axle out of my non disco work in the disco, thus making somewhat like the non disco stock unit that I started out with? I have seen talk about a seal kit from warn, but did not know if it would work with what I am talking about. So, to sum things up, I am wanting to know what I need to do to make the D30 disco work with the set up on my non disco XJ. I know it seems a bit out of place to swap in this disco axle, but I bought it for $30 with the 4.10's already in it that I needed to get my XJ back to a 4 wheel drive unit. Thanks for any help. :doh:

If you were to re-rig it as a disco axle in the way it was originally designed, you'd need to swap out the switch in the transfer case and plumb in the various vacuum lines. This is a possibility. If you have access to the donor vehicle, you can bag the switch (or get a brand new one for something under 20 bucks) and the various harnesses, and the vacuum operated switch that operates the indicator light, etc. etc. and retrofit the whole mess. I don't recommend this, having had an 87 with disco system, which failed in every possible way a vacuum system can fail: the motor, the switch, the lines, the connectors - I even got an invisible pinhole in a hard metal line. Every part of it failed at least once, and I never knew when I went out in a snowstorm whether it might decide to pop out of 4WD just as I was needing it most.

The easiest and cheapest solution would be to take off the disconnect motor, and stack washers on its shaft, to permanently engage it in connected mode (pretty easy to figure out when it's open, but there might be some threads on this deep in the archives, too), just cap the vacuum lines and leave the transfer case alone. This would produce the same effect as a non-disco axle, with the exception that the right hand side of the axle is not quite as strong. You might be able to swap in your solid axle and just cap the hole in the axle tube, but I am not sure about that. There might be seal issues, and it probably isn't worth bothering with unless something is already broken.

You can set it up with a cable operated disco if you really want to remain disconnected. The fuel mileage and wear gain is minimal at best. Or you could set up a manual vacuum switch, or just swap the lines by hand, but none of these options will provide you with a light or other indicator that the axle is engaged, so there's a risk that someone would put it in 4WD without engaging the axle, which is useless in 4 hi, and stressful to the drivetrain in 4 low. I'd just permanently engage it and leave it that way.