Good Bye

I finally picked up an 8.8 axle from a local junkyard and am getting rid of my Dana 35. I wanted to post a little about the swap for those who are interested in doing it themselves.

Axle on its way home from the junkyard. Also picked View attachment 199121p a spare set of axle shafts for cheap.
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Got it home and started to clean it up and remove the brakes, shafts and brackets.
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Got 4.10 gears for a little more power and better gas mileage than my 3.55 gears I have now. But I will have to regear the front when I install it or else I won't be able to use 4 wheel drive.
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The gears View attachment 199126look good even with 176k miles on them. I will just clean everything up before I put it all back together.
I plan on replacing the axle seals and all the brake pads and shoes before it goes it.
I got ebrake cables from a 95+ ZJ which are a direct fit for the 8.8. They are even a little bit longer than the stock XJ cables so the work with my lift.
I will post more as I get more done.
 
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Don't waste your time on this site. Too many web wheelers, not enough Jeepers.
 

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I got everything fully welded and painted and am just waiting for it to dry before I put it in.

I also got a picture of the drive shaft angle at full droop and it looks pretty good.
 

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I started to put the axle under the Jeep but noticed a problem right away. The u-bolt plates had a hole in the center where the retaining bolt and nut fit but since I have different leaf packs the nut was bigger and would not fit through the hole. The hole needed to be enlarged to about 3/4" to fit. I have a 25/32" drill bit that I used to install my lift kit so I planned to use that. I put the plates on a drill press but the bit got dull so fast it was like trying to drill through unobtainium. After a lot of cutting oil and a few smaller bits, I managed to get them to fit over the nut.
Then I ran into another problem. The truss sits right on the center of the axle tube, and the space between the perch and the truss was not big enough for the u-bolts to fit through. I had to cut off some of the truss on both ends to get them to fit.
Once I got the nuts torqued down I tried to put the bolts through the shock mounts, but the u-bolt made it impossible to get it through the hole. So I had to take the u-bolts back off and put the shocks on first.
I got the axle shafts back in and the cross pin as well but found that the spider gears had moved while the pin was out so that the pin wouldn't go through initially. Luckily that's a pretty easy fix. I got the brake rotors and calipers on and just need to get the hard lines figured out.
I did learn that the e-brake cables from a ZJ will not work on a 97+ XJ because the ZJ cables mount in the center and are the same length while the XJ cables mount on the drivers side and one is much longer than the other. East coast gear supply has a set but they cost $100 + shipping. I will most likely have to spend the money since no one makes them.
The only thing left to do is drill the hole for the vent and mount the soft line to the axle and connect the hard lines to it.

13254139_10208344262260820_3242808413422716130_n.jpg
 
I started to put the axle under the Jeep but noticed a problem right away. The u-bolt plates had a hole in the center where the retaining bolt and nut fit but since I have different leaf packs the nut was bigger and would not fit through the hole. The hole needed to be enlarged to about 3/4" to fit. I have a 25/32" drill bit that I used to install my lift kit so I planned to use that. I put the plates on a drill press but the bit got dull so fast it was like trying to drill through unobtainium. After a lot of cutting oil and a few smaller bits, I managed to get them to fit over the nut.
Then I ran into another problem. The truss sits right on the center of the axle tube, and the space between the perch and the truss was not big enough for the u-bolts to fit through. I had to cut off some of the truss on both ends to get them to fit.
Once I got the nuts torqued down I tried to put the bolts through the shock mounts, but the u-bolt made it impossible to get it through the hole. So I had to take the u-bolts back off and put the shocks on first.
I got the axle shafts back in and the cross pin as well but found that the spider gears had moved while the pin was out so that the pin wouldn't go through initially. Luckily that's a pretty easy fix. I got the brake rotors and calipers on and just need to get the hard lines figured out.
I did learn that the e-brake cables from a ZJ will not work on a 97+ XJ because the ZJ cables mount in the center and are the same length while the XJ cables mount on the drivers side and one is much longer than the other. East coast gear supply has a set but they cost $100 + shipping. I will most likely have to spend the money since no one makes them.
The only thing left to do is drill the hole for the vent and mount the soft line to the axle and connect the hard lines to it.

Glad to see you worked through the snags. That's part of a custom project.
 
Glad to see you worked through the snags. That's part of a custom project.

yeah I always run into something on my projects that takes way more time than I anticipated, but it hasn't been too bad so far. I am hoping to finish today or tomorrow and get back on the road. :)
 
Nice write up. I plan on doing this with my YJ, if I don't locate an XJ Dana 44 or Wagoneer 44's.

The 8.8 is stronger than the dana 44 by about 30%, plus it has bigger bearings and ring and pinion, and is pretty easy to put in a YJ if you are still SUA. Do what works best for you. Good luck finding a Dana 44 :)
 
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I put a 8.8 in YJ as well. Went 4.56, Detroit, and Chromoly shafts. Never had a problem with it running 35s. Pretty good little axle for cheap. And WAY stronger than that turdy5.
 
Oh I've read up a bit on the 8.8. Finding the 44's is near impossible and finding an 8.8 is as easy as going to pick and pull. I'm still spring under and will probably stay that way. I want to regear mine to 4.56's. Just don't want to waste my time with the Dana 35.
 
Good to hear. I know they're only fastened with small screws. And there's a lot of narrow trails here.

Yeah there are 9 per flare though. The ones I have are Rugged Ridge, not bushwacker but they are still really strong. If you are going slow I don't think you would rip one off on a tree. They are definitely worth having to keep the mud and rocks away from the body and windshield. I paid $270 for mine which is about half the price of the Bushwackers, I am happy with my purchase. I will say that they don't have as much clearance as the Bushwackers so I had to modify my front ones to allow more flex. I mounted them about 3"-4" higher than the instructions.
 
XJ Dana 35 to Ford 8.8 Swap

Just out of curiosity, what was the reason for adding the truss during the swap?
 
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