Team Willys
www.rocksolidfab.com
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN
So after doing some research on the subject I was quickly overwelmed with a lot of slightly incorrect to straight up wrong information, different ideas and combinations that seemed to work so so, and then ideas that didn't work at all. And of course there were ideas that I wouldn't use on a jeep that was headed to the crusher. I have seen some scary stuff... JKS make a spacer that welds to the knuckle, well, IMHO that's not ideal, but did you know that it also pulls you axle shaft 1/4" out of the carrier? Yep, your seal surface is no longer in the correct spot, and your splines aren't fully engaged either, so that's not good. But did you know that it wasn't needed at all? More on that later. Well what about bolt pattern differences? I read one article that stated you could run a Ford Explorer rotor; but guess what... that doesn't work unless you are ok with stacking washers between your rotor and unit bearing, and even then you have to grind down the bearing b/c it won't fit inside the rotor. This is a very bad idea... So what do you do then? Is there any combination of parts that allows you to keep 5 on 4.5, doesn't require a spacer between the bearing and knuckle, and still allows everything to work correctly?
After doing the swap on a customers rig, I present you with the one and only way to do the swap correctly.
For the purposes of this write up, you should know that 99 is a split year for the unit bearings, so I am going to leave that year out. Let's stick to 98 & older, 00 & newer, and WJ.
First of all, I would like to say that a lot of people made this out to be a lot harder than it actually is, so if you are thinking about doing this, sit back, relax, and take a gander. Tomorrow you'll be gathering parts for your own swap!
I started out at the parts store like most of you guys would. I had them pull unit bearings for a 98 Cherokee, a 00 Cherokee, and an 04 Grand Cherokee.
00 XJ Left, 04 WJ middle, 98 XJ Right
As you can see, the flange height is exactly the same on the 98 Unit bearing and the WJ unit bearing.
I knew right away the correct way to do the swap... bolt the 98 unit bearing to the WJ Knuckle and then re-drill a WJ rotor to 5 on 4.5. No silly spacers or washer stacking required!
To enable me to re-drill the rotor I pressed the hub out of an old unit bearing and then knocked out the studs. The rotor is hub centric so it self centers on the hub.
I then took a centering punch that fit the stud holes in the hub and used it to mark the rotor where it needed to be drilled.
After drilling on a drill press the rotor fits right onto the 98 unit bearing.
Now you can bolt the 98 unit bearing onto the WJ knuckle. The WJ knuckle is thinner than a standard 30 knuckle where the bolts go through. This isn't an issue at all, just don't freak out when the bolts stick through about 3/4 of an inch. They don't hit anything so you can just leave them be.
Then slide on your re-drilled rotor and install the caliper bracket. As you can see, the rotor fits perfectly in the middle of the bracket.
Now install the pads and caliper.
There you have it! The correct way to do a WJ brake/knuckle swap. Keep in mind, depending on the amount of lift you have and the length of your brake hoses, you may need to grab longer hoses. The banjo bolts are located at the bottom of the caliper instead of at the top like a standard 30. Also, depending on your wheels, you may or may not be able to run 15" wheels. Sometimes you can get away with it, sometimes not. In my case the customer was running 16" Moab Wheels so they fit right on. Rumor has it that if you grind the caliper ever so slightly, a 15" wheel fits just fine.
If you have any questions about this swap, feel free to send me a PM or shoot me an email to [email protected].
After doing the swap on a customers rig, I present you with the one and only way to do the swap correctly.
For the purposes of this write up, you should know that 99 is a split year for the unit bearings, so I am going to leave that year out. Let's stick to 98 & older, 00 & newer, and WJ.
First of all, I would like to say that a lot of people made this out to be a lot harder than it actually is, so if you are thinking about doing this, sit back, relax, and take a gander. Tomorrow you'll be gathering parts for your own swap!
I started out at the parts store like most of you guys would. I had them pull unit bearings for a 98 Cherokee, a 00 Cherokee, and an 04 Grand Cherokee.
00 XJ Left, 04 WJ middle, 98 XJ Right
As you can see, the flange height is exactly the same on the 98 Unit bearing and the WJ unit bearing.
I knew right away the correct way to do the swap... bolt the 98 unit bearing to the WJ Knuckle and then re-drill a WJ rotor to 5 on 4.5. No silly spacers or washer stacking required!
To enable me to re-drill the rotor I pressed the hub out of an old unit bearing and then knocked out the studs. The rotor is hub centric so it self centers on the hub.
I then took a centering punch that fit the stud holes in the hub and used it to mark the rotor where it needed to be drilled.
After drilling on a drill press the rotor fits right onto the 98 unit bearing.
Now you can bolt the 98 unit bearing onto the WJ knuckle. The WJ knuckle is thinner than a standard 30 knuckle where the bolts go through. This isn't an issue at all, just don't freak out when the bolts stick through about 3/4 of an inch. They don't hit anything so you can just leave them be.
Then slide on your re-drilled rotor and install the caliper bracket. As you can see, the rotor fits perfectly in the middle of the bracket.
Now install the pads and caliper.
There you have it! The correct way to do a WJ brake/knuckle swap. Keep in mind, depending on the amount of lift you have and the length of your brake hoses, you may need to grab longer hoses. The banjo bolts are located at the bottom of the caliper instead of at the top like a standard 30. Also, depending on your wheels, you may or may not be able to run 15" wheels. Sometimes you can get away with it, sometimes not. In my case the customer was running 16" Moab Wheels so they fit right on. Rumor has it that if you grind the caliper ever so slightly, a 15" wheel fits just fine.
If you have any questions about this swap, feel free to send me a PM or shoot me an email to [email protected].
