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Front Axle Options

TJ and ZJ at low pinion. given the age of the MJ, youll want to steer away from that axle even if you find one. and you now know what year XJ axle you are looking for. so... your still looking for an XJ axle.

"finding one is much easier now." :laugh3:

Damn! Thought I was in luck lol

i think where our confusion lies is that it sounds like you have both wants, and needs.

if you need to keep the vehicle on the road... perform the required maintenance on the axle you have to keep it road worthy. if you want to build an axle, and are looking down the road, thats fine. if that is the case, then rebuilding an axle on the bench may be a good stroke of business, so you can work on it as time and budget allows (someone stated this). keep in mind that just because you put good parts on your current axle to keep your vehicle running doesnt mean you cant use them when the time comes to install a more built axle down the road.

This is true, good point. It is a struggle between wants and needs, I think we'd all love to have built rigs but that's why it's a project, at least in my case. I'll just find the parts I need to freshen it up. Think I'm going to pull the driveshaft and see what that changes road manner wise, would atleast help me key in on what the issues are maybe.... Thanks again man!
 
I just bought a "parts" XJ this weekend for the 97 HP Dana 30 among a few other things I need/want

Sounds like you're plan is almost the same as mine -- I'm working on a 2000 so it's the low pinion 30 stock -- I want to drive it now then swap in the built axle when I lift it -- winter project

Only difference is I want to go 4.56 for 33" tires and also install an ARB air locker

The parts XJ was cheap enough that I should be able to make my money back selling parts and then scrapping the leftover shell -- would really be awesome if I could make enough off of the parts jeep to build the axle but thats a far cry from reality


Keep an eye on your local craigslist for parts trucks -- I'm in NJ -- junkyards are generally high priced greedy bastards around here
 
Rookie question alert: When one is removing the front D30, do you have to compress the coils? Found a guy parting out a 96 and it's essentially free, if I can get it off but I want to be prepared tools wise and I don't have a spring compressor.
 
nope. Pull the wheels off, disconnect the shocks, unbolt the hold down tab on the coil, let the axle drop and the coils will come right out.

Ok sounds promising, thanks man! My pinion bearings seem to be shot and the back lash on the yoke is very loose, I can wiggle the yoke about a 1/8"-1/4" if I grab it and pull side to side and it turns a fair amount when I twist it, so I'm gonna call that cooked. Correct me if I'm wrong guys!
 
nope. Pull the wheels off, disconnect the shocks, unbolt the hold down tab on the coil, let the axle drop and the coils will come right out.

Not true, at least on a stock XJ.

I just replaced springs on a stock '00 a couple of months ago, and there's no way you will get the spring out without a compressor by just disconnecting the shocks and spring tab. You will need to drop the LCAs if you don't want to use a compressor. it will help to have a buddy available to stand on the hub while suspended so you don't have the compress the spring so far.


See here for details:
https://youtu.be/zKxw5ZMAlts
 
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Agreed. If you drop the shocks, track bar and steering linkage that is true. But let's not give the guy the false impression that just disconnecting the shocks will get the job done without a compressor.
 
Not true, at least on a stock XJ.

I just replaced springs on a stock '00 a couple of months ago, and there's no way you will get the spring out without a compressor by just disconnecting the shocks and spring tab. You will need to drop the LCAs if you don't want to use a compressor. it will help to have a buddy available to stand on the hub while suspended so you don't have the compress the spring so far.


See here for details:
https://youtu.be/zKxw5ZMAlts

Odd, mine slipped right out but I may have already pulled out my UCA's before. So if you want to make it easier, remove two more bolts to disconnect the UCA's from the axle or body.
 
Thanks guys, I found one closer than the 96 that's already pulled. I'm going to check it out today after work. Anything I should look for on a used on? They offered to pull the cover for me, so that'll be nice to inspect it before buying it.
 
True that. Honestly, I thought it was just as easy to disco the swaybar and shocks and use a compressor I rented for free at AutoZone.
 
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Not true, at least on a stock XJ.

I just replaced springs on a stock '00 a couple of months ago, and there's no way you will get the spring out without a compressor by just disconnecting the shocks and spring tab. You will need to drop the LCAs if you don't want to use a compressor. it will help to have a buddy available to stand on the hub while suspended so you don't have the compress the spring so far.


See here for details:
https://youtu.be/zKxw5ZMAlts

Interesting, as I've done this several times without compressors.
 
Never used a compressor. Jack it way up place on stands, lowers, steering,TB, sway bar, shocks and blam the coils darn near fall out.

Bleepin Jeep is full of miss information but that's ok after you've built 5 or 7 Jeep's you read through that stuff quickly.


Sent from my Arse because my hands are full.
 
Interesting, as I've done this several times without compressors.

If you can drop OEM coils out of a stock XJ by hand after only unbolting the shocks and the coil clip, either you are the man or you are working on an XJ with a seriously worn out front end.

Next time you do that, take some video. That's something I would sure like to see.

Watch that youtube video posted above and tell me at what point after the shocks are disconnected that we should just pull the spring out by hand.
 
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Never used a compressor. Jack it way up place on stands, lowers, steering,TB, sway bar, shocks and blam the coils darn near fall out.

Bleepin Jeep is full of miss information but that's ok after you've built 5 or 7 Jeep's you read through that stuff quickly.


Sent from my Arse because my hands are full.

It's not misinformation. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I think we've already covered the fact that this is one of those cats.

Nobody in this thread has said that spring compressors are an absolute requirement for this job.
 
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Shocks, sway bar, coil spring retainer clip, and calipers are all that really need to be removed to let the front drop far enough.

I had a 200lb buddy standing on the hub with all of that disco'd, and we couldn't get the spring out by hand. The bumpstop tube and spring perch was still in the way, and the spring was still under compression, just as BleepinJeep's video shows. Actually, there was no reason to remove the caliper in my case, because it wouldn't even come close to over-extending the brake line. If it was, why not just unbolt the line from the inner fender instead of removing the caliper?

I guess everyone's XJs are different since nobody in this thread seems to be able to agree what needs to be disconnected. If what you say is all that is needed to be disconnected, why are others saying that you need to drop the trackbar, control arms, etc.?
 
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Maybe this is a low pinion D30 vs. high pinion D30 issue? I didn't think at the time that was the limiting factor with mine, but I suppose it's possible...
 
I had a 200lb buddy standing on the hub with all of that disco'd, and we couldn't get the spring out by hand. The bumpstop tube and spring perch was still in the way, and the spring was still under compression, just as BleepinJeep's video shows. Actually, there was no reason to remove the caliper in my case, because it wouldn't even come close to over-extending the brake line. If it was, why not just unbolt the line from the inner fender instead of removing the caliper?

I guess everyone's XJs are different since nobody in this thread seems to be able to agree what needs to be disconnected. If what you say is all that is needed to be disconnected, why are others saying that you need to drop the trackbar, control arms, etc.?

Honestly forgot to mention the track bar.

You can get the drivers side out without removing the track bar but not the pass side.

The caliper is 2 bolts and it gets hung out of the way unbolting from the inner fender (on both of mine) still wouldnt let the axle drop enough.
On my 89 and 96 that is all i had to do. Control arms stayed in place on both.
How or why your control arms are binding (my guess body side of upper arm) is anyones guess but the only time i have ever removed controls arms for a spring replacement is if i am replacing the arms.
 
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