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KJ Rear Axle Swap?

4xBob

NAXJA Forum User
While at the dealer for parts, I looked at the Libertys on the lot. They had about 10 with the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle with disc brakes and 3.73 atio. The was one with all the options that had a 4.10 ratio. It didn't look as if it would be too hard to cut off the KJ mounts and add XJ mounts for leaf springs and shocks. Does anybody know the width on these (wms to wms)? I'm looking for options to get the disk brakes, and I have not come up with an explorer 8.8 or a grand cherokee axle (or just the brakes from it) to date. Is this an option? 4xBob
 
I'm looking for a disc option for my XJ, got a corp 8.25 in the rear. I am going to go with the TSM disc conversion kit.

http://www.tsmmfg.com/2561.htm

The kit goes for $279.95pr and I am looking at getting the calipers from a salvage yard and just doing an overhaul on them. Will probably be cheaper in the long run and i guess there isn't any need to do custom fabrication as iff you were to rip the discs off a grand. good luck with it

Hodge
 
iSNT THAT KIT WITHOUT CALIPERS......how much are they gonna cost you?

This is what Im doing on the rear of the MJ.... ITs a zuzu dana 44 from 96 to 98 RODEO is a little over 59" wide all steel not alum like the grand and has same disc brake set up as grand cherokee....4:10 gears of 4.30 ..they can be bought for around 300.00 all over the place...mine came with 4.30"s, the older zuzu's where 58" wide too narrow this one will give you about 1/2" clearance between the springs and the caliper on an xj moer on the MJ.
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Izuzu 44

The Izuzu 44 is also a popular swap in Toyota's. Just thought I would throw that in there:geek:
 
You can stick ZJ disk brakes onto a 8.25 no problem. From a junkyard you can find them for less than 100 dollars (backing plates, calipers, rotors, hoses) and you dont have to mess with welding.
 
ZJ rear disks on xj 8.25

I am very interested in this conversion. Does anyone have Jeep part number or details on this?
 
Thanks guys, I am already looking to get the parts together for the ZJ brake swap.

I have another brake question if anyone knows the answer...I have read about swapping a 95+ DD brake booster into my 91', anyone have a part number or recommendation for which booster will swap directly?
 
Yeah, I'm chiming in kind of late on this.....

I don't think I'd want to get a rear axle out of a KJ. I crawled around a KJ a little over a year ago, and the Chrysler 8.25 rear end had a big honkin' anti-vibration counterweight hung over the pinion. No idea what else changed inside.

ChiXJeff
 
My advice is to avoid the TSM kit. This will cause you pain in your tail for a long time. The main reason is the Caddy calipers were a poor design from the factory, and rarely does anyone get the kit from TSM that just bolts on without any redesign or modification. (5 for 5 that I know about) Not to mention that ebrake adjustment effects overall braking performance.....what where the GM engineers thinking?

I went with the Ford Motorsports SVO disc kit on my Metric Ton 20 rear.....in retrospect I would have gone with the ZJ disks. The ZJ and SVO discs appear to have been produced on the same assembly line, with very little difference between the two. I've been very happy with my conversion and would recommend it to anyone that needs better braking from their XJ. (that means everyone, right?)
:D
 
The calipers/rotors/pads and e-brake hardware are interchangable between the FMS/Explorer and ZJ. the caliper mounting brackets are different.
 
IRS

Wouldn't the fact that the KJ has an IRS 8.25 make it a major PIA to convert your XJ over to IRS. And why would you want to do that in the first place? You loose a lot of flex from solid axle to IRS.
 
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