8.25" LSD

I recently bought an XJ for my wife that needed some work. I have fixed all the major stuff and just have the noisy rear end to finish up and get it on the road.

Details are:
95 XJ
4.0
auto
8.25" open diff rear

It won't be seeing too much offroad, mostly street driven with occasional snow duty in the winter.

It won't be my first time rebuilding a differential but it has been a few years so I might pop in with more questions. First off though, I was looking at non-open options. Seeing as it will mostly see on-road use, we don't want a noisy ratcheting locker or need anything fancy. Also our options are limited since it has 27 spline axles; seems the 29ers have more support. One option I found was https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4529273/overview/make/jeep, is this just a replacement factory LSD? I know a lot of people don't like LSDs but I think for our use it might be the best option.

Any other opinions/options out there? I am new to the Jeep world, coming from all on-road stuff.

My question would be what is the biggest tire you are going to use. If you aren't going above 29"-30" finding a d35 or 8.25 from the junk yard with the factory lsd would be probably the best option. Be cheaper to swap an axle than it would to get a new carrier and have a shop regear the axle

Oops, I should have mentioned that too.

The Jeep is 99% stock, including lift. We just put tires on it, we went with highway tires. They were out of the stock 225/75R15 so we went to 235/75R15, which comes to ~29". No plans to go bigger.

I will be doing all the work myself, I was a mechanic for years before I moved to the management side of the shop. I considered (and still am) the junkyard route, but am always wary about getting used wear items. I guess I could just make sure to get one with some sort of warranty. It would save a lot of work, and like you mentioned, I could pick up a whole axle for the price of just a diff.

And staying at 29" tires even a d35 with the lad can be used and those go for super cheap everywhere

Around here a complete axle is $100-150. I would find an axle with the correct gears and a Limited Slip from an XJ that does not look abused. Rebuild the LS, and bolt it on.
I have bought more than a dozen used XJ axles and the only dud was one I forgot to inspect before I bought. It had sparkles in the gear oil.

If you do rebuild the existing axle, considering installing a Detroit Truetrac, instead of a clutch-type LSD.
One of my XJs has over 150,000 miles on its Truetrac and it is still tight.
The LSD in my Dakota's 8.25' was worn out at 60,000 miles.

I think I am leaning towards what Tim said, that way I can build it then swap it in. The D35 would be an option Demonoid, and there is even one with an LSD for sale locally right now, but I can't bring myself to downgrade, even if it should meet the needs of my wife.

Lazy, I have looked into Truetracs but only found them for the later 29 spline 8.25s. That would certainly be an option if I pick up a later one to rebuild though. I am actually planning on putting a Truetrac in my Silverado once I finish the 8.1L swap on it; it also has an open diff that won't be much use.

The open diff on the XJ is over 270k now, not too shabby. For as many miles and years as this thing has, it has held up very well.

The only difference between 27 and 29 spline is the carrier & shafts. The housing, all bearings, seals, and gears are the same.