Brake design change in 92

I am ordering brake rotors for my 92 Sport 4WD 4.0l, and the brake parts online sellers are asking if my jeep was made after 31 Jan 92 or before. My door sticker says Sep 91 was the build date, so I know which one to get, some sellers are not asking which makes me wonder if they will fit. What's the difference?

According to the definitive sticky http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1058413 there is not a design change at that time, but apparently there was.

Can anyone help me understand this? Thanks in advance for the help!
(I just joined the forum today.)

He is right, iirc. 2wd had even screwier year changes. I'm not sure on the build date of it, but I helped a friend put a new axle housing and knuckles from a 98 into his 92 4x4 and all his 92 brake parts bolted right up. My 91 2wd had the old style calipers and spindles/rotors though.

Some sellers may have incorrect year splits in their database, it happens. The only real way to know for sure is to compare pictures of the important parts.

If the parts sellers database is garbage, they ask you stupid questions or have incorrect pictures.

The difference is, if you get the wrong parts, they won't fit. Buy your parts at a local store so you can compare what they have, to what you have, and returns are also easier.

OK. But knowing more about this issue may help 92 owners understand thier brakes - certainly important from a safety aspect- regardless of the source of the parts. Anybody know the answer?

As far as anybody has pursued the issue, the sticky is correct. Safety isn't an issue here, the D30 brake parts are different enough that they will not/cannot interchange. The cut-off dates are not engraved in stone, if there were extra parts, they got used until they were gone. Unless you were the original owner of the Cherokee you have no idea what brake parts, steering knuckles, or complete axle assemblies may have been swapped or for what reasons.

Like I said, if you have worries about part compatibility, take your old parts to the local auto parts store and compare them to what they are selling.

There are no guarantees any auto parts store or internet sellers database is correct. AutoZone has several well documented errors in their XJ database.

I'm new. What's D30?

The Dana 30 is the size and style of front axle all XJ Cherokees used from the factory.

Here is link to some of the various changes through the years for our little money pits.

http://www.thefullwiki.org/Jeep_Cherokee_(XJ)

The parts manufacturers are consistently indicating there was a design change in Jan 92. They have a vested interest in minimizing returns. There is a sufficient consistancy in their presentation to conclude that attention to this issue warrants understanding.

One reason for this forum is to provide accurate information, even when others may be inaccurate. I appreciate the best advice to minimize risk by buying locally, but I personnaly cannot afford it in all cases.

Anybody know why there is a concern re a design change in 92 brakes?

No idea what change their might have been. I have a 91, put an axle from a 95 under the front, and reattached my old brake parts like nothing was different. Maybe something inside one of the parts was changed, but the whole assembly interchanges alright.

Someone bump this tomorrow, I will take a look in the parts catalogs again and see if chrysler thinks they changed anything just to make sure.

i have never had a problem ordering brake parts for my 92

Hmmm...

Steering knuckles:
1991 53005602/3
1992-1993 without ABS 52067574/5
1993 with ABS 52067576/7

I wonder what knuckles a 92 with ABS gets? :huh:

Rotors
91-92.0 2wd is spindle style, 53002928 (this is what my 2wd MJ had on it when I got it)
90-91 4wd is unit bearing style, 52008440
92.5 (to build date 2/10/92) 4wd is unit bearing style, 52007710
92-93 (after build date 2/10/92) 4wd is unit bearing style, 52008264

Calipers
91-92.0 2wd 5252986/7
92.5 2wd 5252984/5
91-93 4wd is same as 92.5 2wd, 5252984/5

jesus H tapdancing christ that is confusing. I can see why the parts houses have trouble getting their app databases correct.

It looks to me like a september build 92 w/ 4wd would have the newer style calipers, rotors, and pads and you can simply order stuff for a 93 to avoid any confusion. Don't sue me if that's wrong though, just pulling those part numbers and trying to make sense of all the splits pretty much blew my mind, make your own call off the data I gave here. It's all out of the official Chrysler parts catalogs so it should be accurate if you can interpret it correctly.

everything I found a couple years ago (but can't find the post any more) validates the previous post. The "older" AMC style pads/calipers were retained on the 2wd through the mid/late '92 model year. 4wd got the newer pads/calipers IIRC in '91 and the 2wd followed late the next year.

I had no trouble at all reusing all of my 91 parts, including hubs. I'd be interested to know what the actual differences are.

4wd 91 and later on right
older AMC brakes and 2wd through Feb of '92 on left

Gents, I have found this to be incredibly informative - which as I understand it as a newbi,
is the goal of the forum. Thanks to you all! I will let you know if the ordered parts fit.