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Axle swap on 94 xj suggestions tips pointers

Smittymark1

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Nashville
I recently purchased a 94 cherokee and the rear rend needs to be replaced.... I have done quite a bit of research and landed on the ford nine inch and I was told by a guy to just go measure ones width and go from there his case he got one out of a 74 galaxy I think and put it in his dodge single cab...what years and or models would be best to pull a rear end out of and make it easier , cost efficient or line up the best for the 94 xj don't butcher me too bad it's a project I just picked up wanting to put 35s tops trying to dd and play in it too Any help will be appreciated thanks.
 
I'm not sure what us required to swap in a 9in but if you are looking for kinda easy and low cost, I just swapped in a Dana 44 our of another xj and it bolted right up. May be something to look at if you are not set on the 9in and want something easy.
 
Popular swaps are Ford 8.8 from a 95-01 explorer. Gives you discs and is stronger than a 35. Requires some fabrication and welding. An 8.25 from another cherokee is almost a bolt in. May have to change driveshaft, not sure. Or a 44 from an older cherokee. Almost a bolt in. May have to change driveshaft. Do some searching and reading. Lots of people on here have swapped rear ends.
 
Thank you I think I'm leaning towards the 8.8 for ground clearance as I'm not going to run much more than 35s what else is actually needed on the 8.8 out of the explorer to put do I just get the ruff stuff axle kit and could the stock shaft out of the explorer work
 
Thank you I think I'm leaning towards the 8.8 for ground clearance as I'm not going to run much more than 35s what else is actually needed on the 8.8 out of the explorer to put do I just get the ruff stuff axle kit and could the stock shaft out of the explorer work

You'll also probably need to regear an axle to have match gear sets so you can still use your 4wd
 
We installed my old 2005 LJ (Unlimited) axle in my daughter's '97 XJ 2-door. We trussed/re-bracketed the LJ Dana 44, which already had 3.73 gears with Trac-Lok, disc brakes, etc. Yes, it required work, but it was the perfect width, bolt pattern, and it only had 53K miles on it.

So, consider a TJ/LJ Dana 44 while you're looking at options.

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Installed in Mira's XJ
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Here's Mira removing the factory coil buckets from the axle (from a Jp Magazine excerpt)...SO PROUD! :D
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For pretty much plug n pray, I would go with a 29-spline 8.25 or an XJ D44. Easier to find matching gears, or if you get a pair of axles from a 4 cyl XJ they will most likely have 4.10. If you find a super rare 4 cyl auto, should have 4.56's.
 
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