8.25 Swap

[BlacXJeep]

Picking up an 8.25 rear end with 100k on it, to swap out my Dana 35 tomorrow for $70. Who wants to help do the transplant soon?

[calvynandhobbs]

Let me know when. Have you picked up new ubolts yet? They are a different size since the tubes for the 8.25 are much larger so you'll have to change those out. Does the 8.25 have the distribution block for the brake lines still in the axle? On the 8.25 the brake line distribution block has a hole up the center and also serves as the vent tube attachment. On the D35 the vent line is separate and the distribution block screw is much smaller so they are not interchangeable. While you're at it you may want to look at your spring plates. Some have oblonged holes to match either axle, but I've seen others that don't. One of mine was cracked so I replaced those at the same time also.

[BlacXJeep]

here it is
http://worcester.craigslist.org/pts/1372200736.html

the guy runs 37s on his cherokee with a 10 inch lift, hes a mud bogger type. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and yacked my ear off for about 20 minutes. haha. Anyways he says the brake lines are still on it and something about backing plates i think, and how they are interchangeable from the D35? Its got 3:55 gears, so I'm going to leave the insides alone untill I'm ready to go to 4.10s front and rear and lock it. I'll be picking up some U bolts for the 8.25 axle. My only question for now is with stock leafs and the AAL do I just buy stock ubolts, or do they need to be longer?

[gearhead1985B]

let me know when you want to do this i work on the 17 th the saturday we could knock everything out and it would give me something to do

[calvynandhobbs]

If the brake lines are still on it you should be fine. Mine had the lines on it, but the distribution block was missing in between since he used it on something else. If he'll give you the spring plates for the ubolts that would be good since your current plates may not be wide enough to accept the wider ubolts. My 33s on 3.55 gears was bad on the road. I can't imagine how bad his was on 37s.

[BlacXJeep]

he said he had regeared to 4.56 but it was too tourqey, so he went back to 3:55. hes actually running a dana 35, and its not even upgraded. I don't get it, but to each his own. I'll ask about the spring plates

[Seabee_BUC]

he said he had regeared to 4.56 but it was too tourqey, so he went back to 3:55. hes actually running a dana 35, and its not even upgraded. I don't get it, but to each his own. I'll ask about the spring plates

Makes me wonder if there is something wrong with it??? There is no reason someone would go through the trouble of installing an 8.25 in a trail rig and then go back to a POS D35.    Just check it over good before you hand him the $$$$. My .02.. 

[kirksjeep]

he said he had regeared to 4.56 but it was too tourqey, so he went back to 3:55. hes actually running a dana 35, and its not even upgraded. I don't get it, but to each his own. I'll ask about the spring plates

Makes me wonder if there is something wrong with it??? There is no reason someone would go through the trouble of installing an 8.25 in a trail rig and then go back to a POS D35.    Just check it over good before you hand him the $$$$. My .02.. 

X2

You may also need to take the brakes apart on the D35 and the 8.25 to install the E-brake cables.  What year is the 8.25 out of, is it a 27 or the stronger 29 spline? 

[BlacXJeep]

well, he said he has some other stuff to call him about if I was intrested so, I'm thinking the axle is probably fine, but I wouldnt really know what to look for. It is suppossed to be out of a 97, so its a 29 spline. Otherwise I wouldn't have wanted it. Hope I didn't get screwed, but I'll have one of you fellers look it over for me. The weird thing is that he didn't know what I was talking about as far as the 35 being weaker. He only really does mud bogging, so I told him it was probably alot different for crawling. He thought there was something wrong with my 35, but I explained to him, i just wanted a whole other axle. Guess well see whats up.

[kirksjeep]

Did the guy send you a pic?  They still used the D35 in the newer XJ's.  If this guy is a mud bogger it seems very strange that he hasn't broke a D35 if he has ever used it.  Did he mention anything about ABS?  Only the D35 had ABS.

Before forking over the cash ask for him to pull the diff cover.  If there is something wrong with it you might be able to tell if you can see the gears and you can check the gear ratio.

[BlacXJeep]

its def a 8.25, i know what the covers look like and he told me the gears are 3.55, I didnt pop the cover off because I was really in a rush. If I got screwed that would suck but, I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. He seemed decent and told me to email him about JT4x4 events. I'm gonna pop the cover off here at work and see whats going on inside.

[BlacXJeep]

just popped the cover off and the gears seem ok, no major wear or chips as far as I can tell. not like I have experience looking at these.

[BlacXJeep]

Got the u-bolts today, going to get new seals for it soon. Anyone want to help me knock this out this Sunday? Anyone with a garage preferably? Adam if all else fails I'll wait till the 17th, otherwise we can do all that other stuff I gotta do then.

[BlacXJeep]

looks like its an open carrier and i spun the hub on one end and the other side spun the opposite way, so I"m positive its open. But I'm thinking about a powertrax, or something in the $400 range soon. Here it is

[gearhead1985B]

if you want to do it sunday i will help tell what tools you want me to bring and we can test it out afterwards