35C to 8.25 Swap

Hey guys, first time post... I've been searching all day on this stuff...

But just to clarify, I should be able to put a 27 spline 8.25 in my '01 XJ without any issues? Currently have a 35c that's shot, all the bearings need to be replaced. I'm not gonna spend $600 on a 35...no way.

Someone's offered me a 8.25 out of a '92 or so for free. Has high miles, but was running no problem when they removed it.

This jeep is just a commuter, not an offroad toy.

So will the driveshaft work? Not sure if the pinion of the 8.25 is any longer and require mods.

How about the fact my jeep has ABS, and this axle won't, will that cause issues?

Driveshaft should be close enough to get by for awhile, but the 27-spline isn't a huge upgrade over the D35. The price does seem good to go though...

You won't have ABS. No way to get around that without LOTS of work.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Yeah I don't care about not having abs, just don't wanna freak the jeep out or cause issues. The light might come on I guess?

How about axle tube diameter, I'm guessing I'll need new ubolts/plates?

Did the exact swap last month, 1994 8.25 into a 1997. You'll need larger u-bolts for sure, not sure about the plates but because of the condition, I used the ones that came on the 8.25. Also the driveshaft from the 8.25 was exactly 1" shorter than mine so after searching the junkyards for one (that wasn't bent from the jeep being picked up with a forklift), I had mine cut, balanced and painted locally for $40.00. I also had to ues the e-brake cables from the D35. After asking I was told that the brakes are not interchangable but they were identical.As for the abs, I cut the wires and plan to pull my relay and drive on. If you have any rust at all on your Jeep, plan for the worst on removing the brake line. I think if I had not changed mine it would have sprage a leak soon. NAPA carrys a metric male to male union and I used one of the lines from the D35 to make my double flare patch. HTH.....Al

On the driveshaft, the manual tranny versus auto tranny will be 1" difference.

So an auto might be too long? I have an auto...

The AW4 is 1" longer than the AX15, so it would have the shorter rear driveshaft.

Only other thing is the track bar, is it the same as well?

no trackbar for the rear.....thier is a sway bar

I've just done this and got away with the change in drive shaft length due to the lift - original was a little short.

I also reused the U-bolts - they had been left overlong following the lift - and I could just open them out using a hammer and the new axle.

Doh, yeah I guess i need to look under there before posting. I didn't even see a sway bar on mine...

The axle is in, and all is well. I need to get some new shoes for the drums, but my priority tonight was to get it put together.

I used the d35 parking brake cables / drum brackets and they worked great.

I have some slight vibes under accellaration around 35mph or so, but not bad at all. I even had some of those with the old axle. My springs might be pretty sagged so perhaps that's the culprit.

Thanks for the info guys!