Does anyone have any info on installing Crown Vic disc brakes in the rear of an XJ? I have read a lot of information on this site as well as many others on how to do a disc conversion but none make any reference to discs from a Crown Vic. Does a Crown Vic have rear discs or would I be taking the fronts from it? The reason I want discs from a C.V is ZJ units in my area are hard to find at the junk yards. Thanks.
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Crown Vic disc brakes in my XJ
- Thread starter Mike Axle
- Start date
mjma
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rehoboth, MA
I have crown vic discs on my XJ Dana 44. The reason people do it is because the crown vics have the same flange bolt pattern as the XJ44. Have no idea bot 8.25 though....I'm sure you could make it work.
Just put Lincoln Towncar ('94) on my '95 XJ. Rear discs. I have the Dana 35 rear diff. The bolt pattern is "close" (requires some drilling in either the backing bracket or the differential plate. I understand it would be a straight bolt on for a Dana 44.
When I was at the junkyard, I looked at Crown Vic, Lincoln Towncar, and Ford Explorer. They were all the same. Just look at the bolt pattern on the backing plate. Autozone had the same part # for calipers for these three and the ZJ as well, if I remember.
No ZJ's in the junkyards near me either. Guess Jeep drivers don't wreck???
This was a mod that was well worth it for me. Greatly improved brakes. The e-brake is worse, though, with the tiny little shoes inside the "hat" of the discs.
There is alot of info on the internet on this swap. Search this site and the others (e.g., JeepsUnlimited, Pirate4x4) and follow the links and you will get more info than you want.
It'll take you a weekend of parts gathering and assembly. Well worth it in my opinion. Good luck.
When I was at the junkyard, I looked at Crown Vic, Lincoln Towncar, and Ford Explorer. They were all the same. Just look at the bolt pattern on the backing plate. Autozone had the same part # for calipers for these three and the ZJ as well, if I remember.
No ZJ's in the junkyards near me either. Guess Jeep drivers don't wreck???
This was a mod that was well worth it for me. Greatly improved brakes. The e-brake is worse, though, with the tiny little shoes inside the "hat" of the discs.
There is alot of info on the internet on this swap. Search this site and the others (e.g., JeepsUnlimited, Pirate4x4) and follow the links and you will get more info than you want.
It'll take you a weekend of parts gathering and assembly. Well worth it in my opinion. Good luck.
Mike, I used stock rims, no problem whatsoever with clearance. Did need longer lug bolts considering the added thickness of the rotors versus brake drums. I've read that others used the stock lugs, but I just thought mine were too short. They were only a buck or so apiece.
If you replace the lug bolts, do yourself a favor and grind the shoulders that face the tires down so the shoulders will be flush with the threaded portion coming out of the axle flange. It would be a heck of a lot easier to do the grinding with the loose lugs rather than after you've installed them (and replaced the axles). The lugs were listed as "Grand Cherokee" lugs at NAPA, and were maybe 1/4 inch longer than the Cherokee lugs.
If you don't grind off the lug shoulders, the rotors won't sit flush on the axle flanges.
Good luck.
If you replace the lug bolts, do yourself a favor and grind the shoulders that face the tires down so the shoulders will be flush with the threaded portion coming out of the axle flange. It would be a heck of a lot easier to do the grinding with the loose lugs rather than after you've installed them (and replaced the axles). The lugs were listed as "Grand Cherokee" lugs at NAPA, and were maybe 1/4 inch longer than the Cherokee lugs.
If you don't grind off the lug shoulders, the rotors won't sit flush on the axle flanges.
Good luck.
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
What year are you talking about? Crown Vic has the same bolt pattern as the D35 non-clip and is almost a straight bolt on. I have a set of Crown Vic rear discs on my 89 MJ. I fabbed a spacer to go under the bearing retainer since the backing plate is thicket than the original drum backing plate. You also have to open up the center hole and lug holes on the rotor a hair. Takes maybe 15 minutes each side with a die grinder or dremel. The Crown Vic lines are metric versus the Jeep sae, so you'll need to redo the ends of the hard lines. Use two passenger side (I think it was the drivers that had the tee in the line) crown vic soft lines. I spent $30 for the parts from the junkyard, $35 for the new soft lines, and maybe $15 redoing the hardlines.
opracer315
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Spokane, Wa.
I put CV disk on my 44. This is all the info I needed.
http://www.jeepin.com/features/cvdiscs/
http://www.jeepin.com/features/cvdiscs/
lawsoncl said:
Mine's a '95, C-clip Dana 35. The bolt pattern on the axle flange is slightly different - on the Crown Vic (and D44) the pattern is a perfect rectangle. On mine the top bolt holes match the Crown Vic, and the bottom two are spread slightly further apart. No biggie, just a little drilling and they fit.
mjma
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rehoboth, MA
I didn't know that the non-Cclip D35 had almost the same flange bolt pattern as the XJ44.
If that's the case then maybe getting rubi bearing retainer plates and redrilling them will work for the non-Cclip D35, just as it did on my XJ44.....
If that's the case then maybe getting rubi bearing retainer plates and redrilling them will work for the non-Cclip D35, just as it did on my XJ44.....
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
The D35 non-clip has the same pattern as the D44. I bought a set of Rubi D44 retainer plates because everyone swore they would work, but they were too big. The ID of the raised part of the retainer plate was only 0.015" smaller than the OD of the bearing. I just didn't think 7.5 thousands around the edge was enough to hold the bearing in. They did fit the Crown Vic backing plate nicely and would have just needed the lower holes redrilled. Maybe it was just this set as a few folks such as John swear it worked for them.
I used the original bearing retainer plates, marked the OD I needed on them and used a grinder and drill press (poor mans lathe) to turn them to the proper outside diameter. Thickness was perfect. Took me about an hour and I had two rings with the right ID and OD and about 0.14" thick. I redid the wheel bearings at the same time.
I used the original bearing retainer plates, marked the OD I needed on them and used a grinder and drill press (poor mans lathe) to turn them to the proper outside diameter. Thickness was perfect. Took me about an hour and I had two rings with the right ID and OD and about 0.14" thick. I redid the wheel bearings at the same time.
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
By backward, you mean the raised lip of the retainer facing the bearing?
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
So it's sandwiched between the backing plate and the axle tube end?
Gecko321
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Seneca, SC
The Crown Vic has ford 8.8 rear end.. Correct? would the brakes off of that 8.8 work on an explorer 8.8?
mjma
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rehoboth, MA
Gecko321 said:
Correct, Crown Vics have 8.8s.
I don't know for sure but I would say it's not a bolt-on swap. My logic being that if exploder 8.8 discs had the same flange bolt pattern as an XJ44, then people would be using exploder parts to swap discs over to XJ44s. However, if you have an XJ44, you grab the brackets off of a crown vic, because the flange bolt pattern is identical.
If you've got an 8.8 with drums, why not grab the discs off of another 8.8?? Or better yet, just grab another 8.8...they're cheap!! My buddy just picked one up the other day with 4.10, LS, and discs for 140...and he didn't even have to pull it!!
