D30 swap, which year out of these two?

Alright I have a 2000XJ uke: and I never would have worried about anything but now after a few months of just driving around in a 3" lifted Xj with nothing really special done to it, I have become addicted

I've made it to about 5" and now I'm lookin to swap in a new front end..

My front end never pissed me off untill recently when my Xj was parked next to another with about the same lift and I realized it was a pre 2000 (by the 4.0L badge instead of the corny 4.0 Litre the diseased 00-01s get) but still close enough like 97 or 98...I saw what a Hi-Pinion looked like and I wigged out...his DS was Parrallel with the road!!! Holy Sh!* mine angles down at the ground at only 3"!!! I immediatly drove to the nearest junk yard and found a Sh!te load of jeeps being that its right next to a jeep stealership...I found two HP D30s I'm interested in... One is in a 96 (rear end collision, not overly bad with only 86000 miles on it..about 7000 less then what my Heep has on it AND the back is like dug in the dirt and its proped up with the wheels off and the front end up like 4 feet in the air, PERFECT space to take it out) and one in a 98 that has 137000 on it..i guess blow rear end and a pulled motor but front end is in perf. condition

What one would you pull? Are they the same exact thing? And is it a Direct bolt up?

BTW both 4.0L and np231s

Thanks
Andrew

Do both XJs have the same transmission as you do? They should both be 3.55s if they came from AW4-equipped XJs. Do you have ABS? If you do, see if one of the axles has ABS, and take that one. They should be exactly the same, except for ABS vs. no ABS.

XJ D30s are pretty straightforward to pull. Take off the wheels, then unbolt the brakes, track bar, shocks, and swaybar. I'd unbolt the draglink at the pitman arm if you can (and keep that steering linkage as a spare); if not, unbolt the tie-rod ends at the knuckles. Unbolt the upper control arms (with a jack under the axle), and lower the axle slowly until the coils unseat. Remove coils, unbolt lower control arms, and remove axle. The control arm bolts are a pain in the ass to remove; at least, they were on my 1990. I had to cut or otherwise mutilate all four of them (especially those stupid torx-headed UCAs). I replaced them with new grade 8 bolts. It's not terribly hard to do, but I did it mostly by myself and it took a while.

both were non abs(like mine) and AW4s...

I have new brakes (hawk pads and slotted rotors), a loc rite, and gears for my d30 sitting at home...the gears wont go in for awhile since I dont feel a need to put in 4.56s with my 31s but I got a good deal (thanks Ben H!:roll so if I pull the 96 one since it seems easier to work on, and has good mileage I dont have to take the brakes and I will try to keep the steering like you said...If its got only 86K on it do I need a master rebuild kit? The reason I ask is I dont have the ability to rebuild my front end and if I need this it might not work o for me since I dont have the funding to have it done...


my buddy's and I can put the D30 in so thats not biggy...but another question I have is Can I put in my Loc-rite when we put this in and then also keep it when some where downt he line I have my 4.56s installed?

Since they both use the same tranny they will both have 3.55s...same deal with the ABS. Since that's the case, grab whichever one is easier to work on or appears to be in the best shape. From 95.5 onward they always used the larger 297-x u-joints.

The brakes rotors are not interchangeable. Grab the rotors too.

okay cool thanks for the help guys...Um about the U joints I just got new ones in my front end two months ago should I swap these over?

thanks guys

anyone?

Ujoints in the axles are new? Just pull the axles and use the '00 assemblies.
Keep the old ones for spares.

are those D30 gears you got at home for the low pinion 30 you have now or are they for a HP?