8.8 out of place after swap

I got an 8.8 rear which was in another XJ and swapped it in (finally) over the last few days. I'll have pics later
So when I bolted it in, the axle is in place but about an inch or so to the passenger side. Even now, sitting on thr ground on it's own weight, it's still off. I'm going to go out and rock the jeep and see if it settles. The pins are in the correct place and the ubolts are in and tight, there were no issues with getting the axle in place at all, but when I stand back and look it's off, noticably. Has anyone had this issue or anything like it? After I rock it a little I'm going to see if there's any resolve, then take it for a test drive around the block and take a few left turns. I'll check back in and update with the whole swap when I get it sorted out.

How sure are you the leaf pads are int he right place?

Did you compare them against the axle you pulled out of there?

Measure from the. Backing plates to the leaf perches... Should be pretty close to center. When I did my swap I measured from the leafs to the backing plate then I tightened it all up and then when input it in I measured and I was within 1/8" on the backing plates

Maybe the previous owner centered the axle in relation to the driveshaft/pinion output and ran a wheel spacer on one side?:eyes:

snail said:

Maybe the previous owner centered the axle in relation to the driveshaft/pinion output and ran a wheel spacer on one side?:eyes:

Click to expand...

this^^^
the pumpkin on the 8.8 is off center so maybe the PO didn't measure it before he welded the perches. I would do what has been said already and measure from the backing plate to the perches and see if they are the same or not.

yeah i agree with rob i just did this swap and almost did the same thing

Years ago when I did a 8.8 swap I spoke to Mr Tom Woods, who told me to put the axle in off center to allow the drive shaft to have an easier time...:shhh:
Needless to say I ignored the advise and centered the axle and never had an issue.
You need to measure the distance from the leafs at the front and/pr rear and get teh center to center measurement, then compare that to the perches to make sure the leafs are not being pulled one way or the other.
Then measure from the edge of the perch to the brake rotor or backing plate and make sure both sides match.
I would think the same as the others, that there will be an inch difference between the gap from the perch to the backing plate when comparing the two sides....

Martin

I'll grab the tape when I head back out. I drove it and the damn DS hits the exhaust, so I couldn't really give it any gas (or go over speed bumps)
I really don't feel like pulling the axle and having this repaired. I was told it's a straight bold in axle but we'll see.

kf_chris said:

I'll grab the tape when I head back out. I drove it and the damn DS hits the exhaust, so I couldn't really give it any gas (or go over speed bumps)
I really don't feel like pulling the axle and having this repaired. I was told it's a straight bold in axle but we'll see.

Click to expand...

Wow that must be a mile off then.
Get the measurements and let us know.
Any half skilled welder will be able to plasma/grind off the perches and reweld them in short order though....
Martin

leftlanetruckin said:

Years ago when I did a 8.8 swap I spoke to Mr Tom Woods, who told me to put the axle in off center to allow the drive shaft to have an easier time...:shhh:
Needless to say I ignored the advise and centered the axle and never had an issue.
You need to measure the distance from the leafs at the front and/pr rear and get teh center to center measurement, then compare that to the perches to make sure the leafs are not being pulled one way or the other.
Then measure from the edge of the perch to the brake rotor or backing plate and make sure both sides match.
I would think the same as the others, that there will be an inch difference between the gap from the perch to the backing plate when comparing the two sides....

Martin

Click to expand...

why not just leave the pumpkin off center like they were run from the factory and center the whole axle itself?

1990JEEPXJ said:

why not just leave the pumpkin off center like they were run from the factory and center the whole axle itself?

Click to expand...

Which is what I did then and continue to do now, as well as 99% of other people that install them.
Why Tom Woods said to do that didn't make sense to me, except for maybe that he wants drive shafts to have an easier time?

Martin

The driveshaft shouldn't have a problem with the angle (it's balanced out by the angle at the other end of the driveshaft anyways*, only becomes an issue on real short wheelbase rigs like wranglers, etc) but the u-joints will get a bit more exercise than usual if you center the axle instead of the pinion. In my mind this can be a plus as long as their operational limits aren't exceeded, keep the u-joints properly lubed and I think it will help to avoid the trunions and caps fretting/false brinelling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_brinelling

* unless you have an SYE, which leaves the angle uncompensated and if it's above a degree or two you may notice vibes.

I have any SYE

The pumpkin is off center by an inch, with the bias being closer to the passenger side. The DS hits the exhaust because (Effing Midas) the pipe was installed when I had the 2.5" exhaust and muffler put in and they did a half assed job at best. I'll take it to a shop tomorrow and have a new rear section of exhaust put in and call it a day.

I'm not going to take the axle out and have the perches fixed because it's not terrible. I did take a measurement of the tire and with the two checks I made and compared, the tires are only 1/4-3/8" off toward the passenger side, so it's not enough of a track issue for me to want to go through the repair.

Thanks for the assistance and pleasant discussion. I'll get pics up shortly, as we all enjoy eye candy.

Original 8.25 in


8.8 painted and ready


I checked the gears and it looked good. The ring gear is stamped "Ford 4.10" on it and it looked good. There wasn't any horrible smell inthere and the fluid I drained was in good shape I used 2 qts Lucas and the 4 oz bottle of aditive the LSD requires


Axle removed and ready for the new one to be wrestled in. I did this install alone and used tie down straps and 2 straps to get the rear in place and bolted in. You can see how the exhaust hangs down in the wrong area and that's the reason that the DS flange hits it, which is really annoying and I'm going to have that fixed tomorrow.




This is the before the first drive and when I just took it off the jack and stands



I'm looking forward to driving it tomorrow when I can get on it and really see how much of a difference the gearing makes. I like the idea of having a rear axle I don't have to worry about and hopefully I'll be able to take it to the crawl next summer and I'll put the bigger tires on for that. My next mod is the HP30 I have, right now I have the stock front in still and the front DS is pulled out. No areas close to take wheeling and I work pretty much now to xmas with only 5 or so days off (not to mention the wedding in November) so I'm not in a rush to get the other axle in.

i would leave the pumpkin offset and just make the exhaust clear it. it was off set in its original state and there is no problem leaving it that way.

leftlanetruckin said:

Which is what I did then and continue to do now, as well as 99% of other people that install them.
Why Tom Woods said to do that didn't make sense to me, except for maybe that he wants drive shafts to have an easier time?

Martin

Click to expand...

oh gotcha. i misread as to whether it was the axle or the pumpkin you were centering. carry on.

yeah that's the plan