Dana 35 morphed into 8.25 Corp...?

All, I've been discussing with shops, users of this forum and vendors about parts for my 2000 Xj that has a Dana 35. The metal tag numbers I provided to a vendor (on EBay) led him to believe that it was a Dana 35. Since this 2000 Cherokee does not have ABS, and since it does have a factory tow package and, lastly, since it has an OEM sticker that reads 8.25", 3.55 ratio Command-Trac, I guess its a 8.25!

Anyway, I've had some serious chatter problems when turning from a dead stop. That was solved with a flush of the rear end fluid and by including some posi additive during the refill. I still, however, have an intermittent vibration (that changes with power or a lack thereof) at the rear of the car. I'm going to swap out the rear u-joint but, if that does not fix it I'm wondering of the pinion input shaft bearing might be on the way out. While I did ask if the bearing race would need to be pressed out on a Dana 35, I'll now revise my question to... does the bearing race need to be pressed in on an 8.25 corp rear end? While I have a bearing puller, I don't have a press (yet) & I'd much prefer to use an air hammer against some sort of medium (socket, brass pipe) that will absorb the abuse while I re-insert the race. Is this possible or do I need to disect the rear end and buy a press to accomplish this? Would a 12-ton press be enough?

Lastly, are these axles c-clip style?

Thanks for all of your help!

M Randolph

aviationstation said:

Lastly, are these axles c-clip style?

Click to expand...

yup c-clip and 29 spline shafts





thats all the help that i got for ya....

good luck

he bearing races on ether dont need to be pressed in or out. Ive done both.

Does it look like this:


or this:

???

I'd positively ID the axle before proceeding with any further steps. What numbers did you give eBay guy that he used? Does the diff cover have a Dana diamond, or a Chrysler Pentastar (five-pointed star) logo on it?

Thanks for the replies!

I'm fairly certain its an 8.25. The bottom is flat and it has the 10 cover bolts. What's more is that this Jeep has been a dealer queen since new, and I would not expect the dealer to swap out the rear end; also the OEM sticker still attached the pass side of the rear end axle tube clearly reads 8.25. I also bought a diff cover gasket for it and it fit perfectly, and this Jeep has the factory tow package and is a none ABS XJ. It all seems to point to an 8.25 even without the sticker.

As for what I gave the EBay folks, they were going off of what I thought was the factory ID tag. One of the two small metal tabs attached to two of the diff cover bolts read 35, which I now attest to mean 3.55 ratio (the OEM sticker also reads 3:55). The other small cover bolt/tab was unreadable.

I think I'm going to swap out the carrier bearings (looks like they are not press in but rather have a cap (like a main bearing)) and then replace the rear u-joint before I try to tackle the pinion bearing.

Thanks again for the info!

Somebody else correct me if I'm wrong.....

You're going to have to check the gear pattern on that 8.25 every time you pull the carrier. There are eccentric adjusters under the bearing caps, and you'll need a long tool to set them from the end of the axle tube.

ChiXJeff said:

Somebody else correct me if I'm wrong.....

You're going to have to check the gear pattern on that 8.25 every time you pull the carrier. There are eccentric adjusters under the bearing caps, and you'll need a long tool to set them from the end of the axle tube.

Click to expand...

You can adjust them from the cover. You can use a spanner wrench or just bend a awe tip and stick it in there.

Scott Mac. said:

You can adjust them from the cover. You can use a spanner wrench or just bend a awe tip and stick it in there.

Click to expand...

Those bearings need a preload on them that you won't be able to get by adjusting it thru the cover (I think it is something like 75 ft lbs). I made an adjustment tool by taking a bolt with the head size that fits into the cap and welding it to an old socket. This way I can connect it to my 1/2 drive long ext and insert it into the axel to use my torque wrench on it to get the preload.


Ed

Does anyone have a pic of the eccentric(s) that your talking about? I've got the 20 Ton press, the race/bearing puller and the new bearing set on the way. I'm hoping that this can be done in a short period of time (say, two days). It looks to me like the carrier bearings are held in caps that resemble engine main caps. Are these eccentrics located there?

Thanks!

M Randolph