swapping from chrysler 8.25 to Dana 35

[XJ Eric]

OK guys call me an idiot and talk me out of this. I've got a front and rear axle (dana 30, vacuum disconnect, and a dana 35.) they only thing is that they have 4.11 gears in them ready to go.

I'll have to swap out the front gears but the rear axle will have to just be swapped. someone talk me out of this!

 

[whatevah]

you're an idiot. sell the D35 to another sucker and keep looking for another 8.25 or a 44 with gears in it. While you're at it, get rid of the vacuum D30, too. How's that?

well, that's assuming you want to go offroad.

 

[yossarian19]

Sure, it might cost 400 bucks or so to swap the gears on your current axle... but how many axle shafts might you break over the time you have the thing?
Parts, Pain and Time could easily add up to more than 400... Intact D35 shafts are getting rare, too.

 

[XJ Eric]

more info. Going into my wife's rig. 31 inch tires and stayin that way.. still dumb? Didn't realize my signature went away with my name turning black

 

[whatevah]

if she doesn't go offroad, she'll be fine. Or if she only does mild trails or knows how to drive (easy on the skinny pedal). My old boss has 33s on a stock D35 and was fine for a few years (never went offroaD),

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

so you have a 91 XJ im guessing meaning the 8.25 has only 27 splines which means its hardly stronger than the D35. just look for a set of axles from a 97+ XJ, 4cyl if you want 4.10's

 

[nochance9]

I ran 33s on a stock D35 for 5 years took it to moab and wheeled it a lot. What finaly broke it was droppiing it into drive at 5500 rpms and expected the 12.50s to squeel..... lol yes i'm a stupid teen but even then it was the spyder gears that broke... 31s and a D35 little to no wheeling you're good. If you use four wheel drive around town when it snows or something, dump the vacum disconect D30 unless you like things that don't work when you need them to.

 

[94CountryXJ]

No, seriously no.

 

[XJPhoenix]

Will it be getting a locker, or a limited slip modification? What type of wheeling does she do? Mud & snow aren't as hard on an axle as rockcrawling & dune jumping. If the tire size is kept low (31's at most), and the driver is smart, then a D35 could last a good while.

Make sure the axle is straight though. The previous owner may have treated it poorly, and the housing is a known weak-point. If it's bent, it'll eat parts faster than usual.

If it were me, I'd use the 8.25 you have, and swap gears; or look for a later model (1997+) and swap gears in that. Yes, the older 8.25 has weak shafts, but the ring, pinion and the housing itself is much stronger than the D35. The means it won't stretch when under load, and this means the inner parts won't break as easily.

Just my 2 bits.

 

[XJ Eric]

so you have a 91 XJ im guessing meaning the 8.25 has only 27 splines which means its hardly stronger than the D35. just look for a set of axles from a 97+ XJ, 4cyl if you want 4.10's

91? Where'd you see that?

My bad its a 98 with the 29 spline shafts.

she does mild wheeling she tries to follow where mine goes, but will back off when her ATs and open diffs aren't up to the task.

 

[Darky]

so swapping from a 29 spline 8.25 to a d35 to avoid regearing? Sounds like a brilliant idea. We could tell you all about how people have snapped a shaft on 30s wit an open diff on flat gravel, but you've probably made up your mind already so it would be pointless to try and convince you.

 

[emr1101]

so swapping from a 29 spline 8.25 to a d35 to avoid regearing? Sounds like a brilliant idea. We could tell you all about how people have snapped a shaft on 30s wit an open diff on flat gravel, but you've probably made up your mind already so it would be pointless to try and convince you.

haha this guy sounds like me! :dunno:

 

[WB9YZU]

I could have sworn we just saw some thread about a guy who wanted to swap out his D44 for a D35 because of gearing issues. 5 pages of flames later :twak:

Disco D30's had the small axle shafts and inferior brakes. :twak:

He didn't say manual or auto, but I'm going to go out on a limb and think that his 98' is an auto.

I've been running 31's with the stock 8.25/D30/automatic combo for 6 years and 76K miles. No problems.

Sure a lower gear would be nice, but I'm not going to downgrade by Jeep to do it.

If you're serious about the 4.10 gears. Strip the front axle of the carrier/ring/pinion and go buy a set of gears for the 8.25.

 

[IXNAYXJ]

...the 8.25 has only 27 splines which means its hardly stronger than the D35.

You are on crack.

-----Matt-----

 

[Magus2727]

If you dont want your C8.25 29 spline I will take it..... going once....

I think Its a bad ideas, a 29 sline C8.25 with chromoly is up there with the D44 and Ford 8.8.....

 

[Timmy2XJS]

for the love or your jeep man, dont put the D35 in. its is evil and needs to be melted down.

regear the 8.25 and youre golden

 

[BADaXJ]

just for the record i scored some 4.10 complete axles for my MJ, $100 for the pairparty1:. the rear was a D35 but thats what was already in the truck so it wasn't a downgrade. i'm running 32's and drive it hard. no issues yet in about a years time. i also scored a ZJ D35 for $25 and swapped the disc brakes on the rear, (direct swap). for the price i couldn't pass it up and i got a whole spare housing with shafts and guts for free so i'm good. imo, if you're on a budget, and don't have to dump money into the rearend to get it on the road, go for it and hang onto the 8.25. chances are you'll be fine but if it grenades, swap the 8.25 back in and get 4.10's for it... just my opinion. sure, some people will be disgusted by what i said, but not everyone has money to swap in built 44's etc. do what works for you and what you can afford. 4.10's are a great upgrade and in my experience the D35 will handle 32's. 33's if your smart.