Help with 8.25

Okay, if someone can point me in the right direction for this swap question, that would be helpful.
I have some horrid noises from the rear end. I have narrowed it down to the rear pinion bearing and i need to rebuild the rear end.
My question is this: would it be more cost effective to find an 8.8 and swap it, or rebuild the 8.25? How hard is the swap as this is my daily and I don't have another rig?

94 XJ AW4 150K. 4.0

Quickest most effective is go quickly and find another 8.25 from a boneyard, does not even have to be same gearing though that would be nice, if it is not just don't use 4wd. Swap the rears in a couple of hours, if the new rear is better than the old one keep it. Take the old one and while it's out do the disc brake conversion, get the pinion done and get it all up to snuff, add a LSD or locker and swap it back. The ford one is going to require some welding and fitting so that can be a show stopper for a DD.

good advice there

It all depends on how much you can get a rear end for. In my opinion, it would be a waste of money to have the pinion bearings fixed on your 8.25, unless you're re-gearing. If you decide to go with another 8.25 from the junk yard, make sure you remove the pinion, and then re-tighten it to the proper torque. Rumor has it that the reason that 8.25 pinions go out so often is that they tightened the pinion too tight from the factory. It's just a rumor, but it seems to make sense to me.

That being said, if you can find an 8.8 for a good price , go for it. Only thing is it may be tricky to find one with the same gearing. My buddy just got an 8.8 with 4.10, discs, and LS for 140. A lot of people pay more though.

I have some play in pinion in the rear diff. Can I just replace the bearings if the wear pattern on the R+P isn't too bad?? Will that get me by for the time being until I can regear front and rear?

Yes,that would be an easy fix.All you need is new bearings and a new crush sleeve!All you need is to reset the backlash and thats easy on the 8.25!Pinion depth isnt an issue since your not changing it,just re-use all the shims that are there now!

RCP Phx said:

Yes,that would be an easy fix.All you need is new bearings and a new crush sleeve!All you need is to reset the backlash and thats easy on the 8.25!

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What about pinion depth?

i got a chry 8.25 i just took out of my jeep today for my ford 8.8. 50 bucks takes it