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'86 Comanche Rear NOT a bolt in...

Jared

Jared

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ogden, UT
To all of you guys who told me that a 1986 comanche D30 rear end would bolt right into my 1991 XJ after moving the perches and making some shock mounts, you were incorrect.

The comanche rear has one major difference. The emergency brake cables exit via the REAR of the brake backing plates! This has to be the only vehicle I have ever seen with this setup.

Hopefully, I can switch the backing plates side to side and correct the problem. Keeping the primary and secondary shoes in the right places might get tricky, who knows? Also, I would have to take out the spider and side gears to remove the mighty C-clip axles. Of course good old Dana decided to install the cross shaft with a ROLL PIN instead of a bolt. What a pain in the butt.

BTW - The comanche rear has 11" drums while the XJ has only 10". The XJ drums are a bit wider though. Anybody have any input on which of these drums would be better? Right now I'm leaning toward the 11" MJ brakes, but then I have to deal with the rear exit cables still. I could just swap back in the whole XJ brake setup.

So which is better, wider 10" or narrower 11"?

Jared
 
DeadEyeJ said:
To all of you guys who told me that a 1986 comanche D30 rear end would bolt right into my 1991 XJ after moving the perches and making some shock mounts, you were incorrect.
Click to expand...

Well if someone told you that there is a D30 rear end in a comanche they really must be smoking something!!!! :D
 
Any possibility that you pulled this from a rig that had no e-brakes installed and somebody earlier had put the brake backing plates on the wrong sides?
 
Nope, the ebrake worked right up to when I cut the cables with a sawzall. The backing plates are molded to be set up for the cables exiting forward or backward. But they are only drilled for the cables exiting through the rear.
 
swap the backing plates from one side to the other?? I realize you'll have to dissassemble the drum to do this, and maybe pull the shafts(never messed with a 35). But it seems like they would be swappable to fix your problem. HTH

Ary
 
If there is a roll pin then it is probably not clipped. look at the axle where it goes into the housing and see if there is a plate with bolts/nuts on it.
 
The 86 `ll not`e c-clip......

you will need a 6" long punch for that roll phn. 4/16th I thhnk pt do nNp hold =` tn th�p. Als the a`es will have 4 bolts on the ends and there will be a hole or two in thD,flange to rtic
thd so`et thrÞtgh. H@.
 
Hum this is getting wierd. number one why does he need to remove his roll pin. second I've never seen e-brake cables enter from the rear.
 
It is really weird.

Just looked under the only '86 MJ longbed I have here and sure enough -- the cables do go OVER the axle and enter the backing plates from the rear. However, on the '88 shortbed, they enter from the front just like on an XJ.
 
o boo hoo hoo:( accually having to do some modifaction to a jeep! not jsut adding a stock part(the 44)! come on now!!!!!!


stoney
 
Jeez, once again I have to agree with StOnEy. (kinda)

You are doing a modification, ie custom, what'd you expect. I mean if cutting the perches off & making new ones & shock mounts didn't bother you, why worry about a couple backing plates?

And I've gotta ask, why would anyone do this much work for a c-clip Dana 35? They practically grow on trees you know.

:)
 
Even Better!!!!

Thats means some longer cables for the lifted guys!
 
Wow, that's a lotta posts.

For starters, the reason for the swap was to go from 3.07's to cheapo 4.10's. Supposedly this was to be less labor than setting up the gears.

The housing of the axle has "35 C" molded into it. I naturally assumed that this meant that it is a Dana Model 35, C- Clip. I have had the cover off and noticed the roll pin but didn't even bother to see if it was indeed a c-clip unit or not. I just kept assuming that it was.

As far as WHY I need to remove the roll pin, I assume that this is a c-clip 35. In order to remove the backing plates, the axle shafts have to be pulled. Well, to remove them, you have to remove the cross shaft from inside the carrier to gain sufficient clearance to remove the c-clips. Removing the c-clips is the only way to remove the shafts. Also, while I'm in there I am installing a lock right. So the spider gears have to come out no matter what.

Thx for the tips guys. BTW - I am not so much bawling my eyes out as I am warning others who attempt the same swap. I want them to know what they are jumping into before they start.

Thanks, Jared
 
Nope, Dana 35C doesnt really mean you have c-clips. It ACTUALLY stood for custom, some stupid story about how chrysler didn't build the whole thing, yadda, yadda, don't really know, maybe someone else will know the whole store, don't really care either. My old 35 had Dana 35C on it too, but it wasn't a c-clip axle.

But you really just have to look inside and look for c-clips, or remove the 4 bolts from the backside of the brake drum and try to pull your shafts out. If you yank hard they should pop out. And if they don't u probobly have c-clips.
 
Deadeye......

Don't listen to these guys that are one track minded. I appreciate you informing others about your problems so that down the road the next guy has a heads up. This is obvously new to a lot of people b/c you got Eagle! And Eagle aint easy to get. Serously though, you shoule find four bolts behind the flange and nuts on the inside. Keep the info coming. Oh and by the way, both times I put the lock-right in I had to pull both axle shafts out about 1" or 2". Some say you can do it with out p;ulling the shaft but I have not figured it out yet. And those little springs are tight I have found that 2 small screwdrivese make putting them in cake. Compress it with one and use the other at a 90deg to it and push it in.
 
DeadEyeJ said:
The housing of the axle has "35 C" molded into it. I naturally assumed that this meant that it is a Dana Model 35, C- Clip. I have had the cover off and noticed the roll pin but didn't even bother to see if it was indeed a c-clip unit or not. I just kept assuming that it was.

As far as WHY I need to remove the roll pin, I assume that this is a c-clip 35. In order to remove the backing plates, the axle shafts have to be pulled.
Click to expand...

It is NOT a c-clip axle -- unless it's not the original axle. The c-clip axle did not show up until either mid-89 or 90.

The 'C' does not indicate c-clip, it means "Customer" -- it Dana's designation for an axle that is shipped to the vehicle manufacturer partially built, with the customer completing the assembly.

DO NOT ASSUME
 
mikedashg said:
But you really just have to look inside and look for c-clips, or remove the 4 bolts from the backside of the brake drum and try to pull your shafts out. If you yank hard they should pop out. And if they don't u probobly have c-clips.
Click to expand...

It's a lot easier than that. Remove a brake drum and look. If you have 4 bolts holding a seal retainer plate, it is not a c-clip axle.
 
I have the same Comanche axle in my XJ. If you buy the Wrangler brake cables you will have plenty of legthe to run them out the back. It's alot easier than pulling apart the axle and swapping plates.
 
Holy cow guys, thanks for all the good info.

It is probably not a c-clip then. Which means, of course that my Lock Right will not fit. Luckily my bud will sell me one that does fit for 50 bucks. This actually works out well because the c-clip locker will go to my other wheelin buddy for 50 bucks also. Now more of us are locked up.

Brian, thanks for the heads up on the wrangler cables, however I am trying to remove the word "buy" from my vocabulary. Wifey and I are both full-time college students and we just bought a house last week.

The left axle seal (wheel seal?) is leaking just a bit. Is replacing it really any different than on a c-clip axle? I know you have to remove the 4 bolts under the flange to remove the axle. But doesn't this remove the seal too? I thought the bearings were pressed on the shafts in semi floaters.

Any tips before I disassemble this thing?

Thx in advance, Jared.
 
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