- Location
- Reno, Nevada
In my quest for a cheap HP30 to swap in place of my LP30 (I have 2000XJ), I was on the phone today with several wrecking yards. One place had some older ones 86 - 89 but said they wouldn't work for me. The conversation went somewhat like this -
guy: What year axle is it?
me: I'd prefer a 95 - 99.
guy: Lets see... We have some older ones from the 80's but (typing on computer in background) they wont work for you. You need something 90 or newer.
me: Well as long as its a non-disconnect axle it should work right?
guy: No. You need 90 or newer.
me: Why?
guy: Because... the shafts won't fit in.
me: How's that? Can you be a little more specific?
guy: Uh... looks like the knuckle is different. And... the the newer axles are thicker so they won't fit.
me: You mean the newer ones have a bigger u-joint?
guy: Yeah, and they won't fit because of the knuckle.
Thats about where the conversation ended but now I'm a little confused. Was this guy correct? First of all we were talking full axle assemblies, so I don't know how this guy claimed that an older axle assembly wouldn't work. Even if it had 260 u-joints it should still work, right? But the real question is why wouldn't I be able to swap my shafts into an older housing from the 80's?
guy: What year axle is it?
me: I'd prefer a 95 - 99.
guy: Lets see... We have some older ones from the 80's but (typing on computer in background) they wont work for you. You need something 90 or newer.
me: Well as long as its a non-disconnect axle it should work right?
guy: No. You need 90 or newer.
me: Why?
guy: Because... the shafts won't fit in.
me: How's that? Can you be a little more specific?
guy: Uh... looks like the knuckle is different. And... the the newer axles are thicker so they won't fit.
me: You mean the newer ones have a bigger u-joint?
guy: Yeah, and they won't fit because of the knuckle.
Thats about where the conversation ended but now I'm a little confused. Was this guy correct? First of all we were talking full axle assemblies, so I don't know how this guy claimed that an older axle assembly wouldn't work. Even if it had 260 u-joints it should still work, right? But the real question is why wouldn't I be able to swap my shafts into an older housing from the 80's?