Chrylser 8.25.... yet another question.

I know that when trying to determine if you have 27 or 29 splines has a lot to do with the year of manufacturing. I also know that they went from 27 to 29 splines in the mid year of 1996.

Heres my problem, I have a 1996. Its a sport, with the 4.0l/AW4, and a C8.25 rear. How do I figure out at what point in 96 mine was made? Even then, is there any other way.... ASIDE... from pulling an axle and counting spline or measuring the diameter of the shaft to know for sure which it has? Is there some sort of code on the housing? The only tag that I saw on it said 3.5, which I know is the ratio (3.55).

I searched back to 2003 for this, found a few semi-related questions, but no answers. I looked at Yuccamans page (awesome info...), and even found an old post with him aksing the exact question years ago, but no answer.

Am I going to have to pull an axle shaft to figure this out (yes, I know its easy enough), or is there another way?

VIN number/build sheet perhaps?

Thanks, James

Bump just incase....before I pull an axle shaft.

~James

Build sheet will only say that you have a corporate 8.25 rear axle. My 98 had a paper tag around the axle tube behind the right drum identifying it as having a Trac-Loc, but I don't think it said anything about the splines.

Yup, the only way to know for sure is to pull a shaft and count.

You will have to pull a shaft. Ask me how I know?

The changeover was 5/96. Check your door jam for the month of your build.

That's not a foolproof way of telling. I know someone who had an August 96 build date with 27 splines. :dunno:

Call a dealership with your VIN?

94xjstud said:

Call a dealership with your VIN?

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That won't help either. PULL AN AXLE.

You're gonna have to pull it to be certain. If I remember the thread you were talking about, there was some talk of reading the BOM numbers on the paper tag that may be readable on your axle, but I don't think anything ever came of that discussion.

gradon said:

The changeover was 5/96. Check your door jam for the month of your build.

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Too much assumption involved there. Other than definite changes like the body style for 97+ models, Jeep has a knack for using all the available parts, even after they started building using the newer stuff. The way it was explained once is that the factory decided on a cutover date of Dec 1 using 23-spline widgets in place of the 21-spline version. A month or three later, someone pulled a box of 21-spline widgets out of a dark corner, so they continued using those on the production line until that supply was exhausted. For 99.9% of the buyers, they never knew there was a difference, and the dealer that did the work would hopefully pull the broken widget out and count splines before ordering the replacement.

johnnyc said:

That's not a foolproof way of telling. I know someone who had an August 96 build date with 27 splines. :dunno:

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Izzakly.

94xjstud said:

Call a dealership with your VIN?

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No point in doing that. A strict VIN decode won't even give axle info. The dealer might be able to give you a build sheet, but the older the Cherokee is, the more inaccurate the sheet will be. Daimler-Chrysler recycled build codes over the years, and we have had examples here on of XJ build sheets claiming the vehicle was made with 5.0L engines, 1-ton running gear, and a host of other options that were never available in the product line.

Long story short - trust, but verify. Count the splines to be positive.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Long ago I answered that question--There was a definate cut off point ,and to be sure your axle had to have the # 0n the paper/plastic tag on the axle housing that was located on the drivers side-between spring and brake drum.

Then take that # to the dealer to verify what part # the dealer would order to replace an axle --all more time consuming that PULLING the axle to be sure.

Wayne