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Help with WJ conversion, I'm stuck

P

PAUL B

NAXJA Forum User
Location
South Louisiana
This is what I have, 2000 Wj nuckel's with JKS spacers, 2002 brake upgrade kit, 2002 Ford explorer roters and 1990 hub ALL new Grade 8 hardware. I just did a mock up/ preassemble to check for caliper / rim clearence. The problem I ran into is I needed 9/16' stack of washer's ( 6 washers) between the nuckel and the caliper bracket to center it over the roter. I can understand 1or 2 for shims but 6 is way to many. None the threads and post's I've read had this problem and the tech Man at JKS said I would'nt need a spacer for the caliper bracket. So what did I miss or do wrong with this setup? Are there any parts that I need to change? And Yes I did search. Thanks. Well I'm heading out to work (nightshift) I'll check back later tonight. Again Thanks.
 
I don't know where you got your parts list.

You should be running WJ knuckles with the JKS spacers.
WJ rotors
WJ calipers
2000+ Xj/Tj unit bearings

You will need to grind the inside edge of the caliper, and put a spacer (about 1 washer) between the caliper and bracket.

At least, every WJ conversion I've seen (mine included) are just like above.
 
Like Cal said. Of course you will need to redrill the WJ rotors for the 4.5x5 bolt pattern, but it is not that hard with a drill press and the correct drills.

Angus
 
The unit bearing is my spare and is what I have on my heep now, I replaced them last summer. The ford rotors, well it was on some post's. I had the parts juy at auto zone pull both ford and WJ rotors Tey "looked" the same aside from the bolt patern. Bad choice I think.
So i need 2000 XJ unit bearing and WJ rotors.
 
Last edited:
Yes, and will need to do some grinding and spacing.

I have to pull my front end apart this weekend and look at a brake line I may have damaged. I can take some detailed pictures of my WJ setup if you want. PM me ~monday and I'll email you the pics.
 
Cal thanks. I'll PM you monday. What grinding and spacing? I read about grinding the caliper to fit in a 15' rim, but I havent gotten that far yet.
 
Well

The spacer you welded on needs to be .230" to center the caliper on the rotor, and .250" to put the u-joint exactly where it needs to be between the balljoints ...

So you grind the lip off of the WJ caliper on the outside (I'll show one ground and one not in my pics, i have a spare caliper sitting around) and put a washer between the caliper and bracket, to pull it "in" about 1/8" or so, otherwise the outside pad won't fit in correctly.

I'll show in my pics.
 
The unit bearing does make a difference, they come in different depths, so they change where the rotor centers in the caliper
 
wannabe said:
I run the WJ set up with no spacers and havent had any prob's in over a year now.
Click to expand...


And there are guys that run 38's on dana 35's and claim not to break too.

We're talking about the right way to do it, at the moment.
 
yeah, you havent had to machine anything in a long time. You weld a flange spacer onto the knuckle, weld a trackbar mount, and the rest is more or less bolt on, unless you wanna start moding steering, which most people do.
 
cal said:
And there are guys that run 38's on dana 35's and claim not to break too.

We're talking about the right way to do it, at the moment.
Click to expand...

If you would be so kind please explain to me what I'm doing "wrong"? Thanks
 
There's a difference between not doing it the right way, and doing it the wrong way.

The spacers are there to keep the u-joints centered between the balljoints, so they don't bind while your turning. If your not running the spacers, but are running XJ/TJ unit bearings as has been discussed, that's not happening.. therefor, is not the "right" way.
 
PAUL B said:
This is what I have, 2000 Wj nuckel's with JKS spacers, 2002 brake upgrade kit, 2002 Ford explorer roters and 1990 hub ALL new Grade 8 hardware. I just did a mock up/ preassemble to check for caliper / rim clearence. The problem I ran into is I needed 9/16' stack of washer's ( 6 washers) between the nuckel and the caliper bracket to center it over the roter. I can understand 1or 2 for shims but 6 is way to many. None the threads and post's I've read had this problem and the tech Man at JKS said I would'nt need a spacer for the caliper bracket. So what did I miss or do wrong with this setup? Are there any parts that I need to change? And Yes I did search. Thanks. Well I'm heading out to work (nightshift) I'll check back later tonight. Again Thanks.
Click to expand...

I used 98 bearings and 95 crwn vic rotors. I think you are looking for Sport-Trac and not Explorer rotors.

Here's a halfway decent thread regarding it.
 
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