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Any bolt in rear axle upgrades?

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Dannomanno

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Yakima, Wa.
Ok first off, yes I read the stickys and searched many forums. Now you can call me slow but I didn't find any straight answers on whether there is a direct bolt in upgrade for the rear axle?? Please a straight yes or no will do, but if it is yes please tell me what it is and where to find it. Thanks for your time guys.
 
I think the only true direct bolt-in, and I could be wrong on this, is the Dana 44 out of a 88 or 89 XJ with the tow package... but they are very rare! Other than that, to my knowledge, XJ's all ran Dana 35s of a Chrysler of some sort, but they weren't upgrades really. Of course I could be way off...
 
I think this came up in another thread, but try and find a rear from a 77-79 dodge 1/2 ton van.. they have a beefy rear that'll bolt into a xj save for brake lines. You need to find one with the 383 and 2spd auto though.
 
Danno -
Check out which axle you have in your rig currently. XJs came with 4 different rear axles (more, actually, but only 4 are meaningfully different)
1. Dana 35. Sucks. Don't put any money in to it, don't plan on doing much with it. It just sucks.
2. Chrysler 8.25, 27 spline (out of a 96 or older XJ with no ABS) This is a decent enough axle for light use. Some came with posi rear, almost all with 3.55 gears.
3. Chrysler 8.25, 29 spline (97+ with no abs) This is a fine axle for most use. I think CRASH rated it for up to 33's.
4. XJ Dana 44. Hard to find but pretty sweet. Will hold up to 35s, generally speaking.

All of the above can be locked, geared, given disc brakes and perhaps most importantly, found fairly cheap.
You could also check craigslist and your chapter's for sale page for axles that have previously been bolted in to an XJ, like a Ford 8.8. If somebody else did the work already, what does it matter if it would have bolted up from the factory?
 
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