XJ Build

[smichaelR22]

the wonder has 3.07 and 35\"s  it kinda sucks but works with a 4 speed.   i say 4 speed because you dont event use 5th gear on the thruway at 75.

[carchameleon]

actually, my cj is 3.55\'s and 35\'s & i have no problems
it is a 4 speed though :-)

[xjh3]

Talked with Smike a little yesterday about my brakes. They kinda suck. Didn\'t get as much improvement from the rear discs as I\'d hoped. What do any other 8.8 swappers suggest for this? Swap proportioning valves from a ZJ with rear discs? Bigger master cylinder?

I showed Smike this and he said it was too much work. I kinda agree I guess but thought it was interesting...
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1062525
Both my unit bearings are hosed. So this would get me slightly larger rotors (I think), bigger calipers, and real hub bearings. I\'m gonna have to spend $300 on unit bearings anyway... Thoughts?

[MrMindless]

Love it.

you\'re stuck with 5 on 5.5\" though.

[xjh3]

Yeah, I\'m hoping I could pick up some cheap steelies in the right bolt pattern, and there\'s no getting around the $100 wheel adapters for the rear. 8.8 is a little narrow anyway.

Got any parts laying around, Mike?

[luvmyxj]

another trick is pulling its either a spring or a pin out of the front of the xj prop valve been a while sice i seen the write up

[MrMindless]

I only have 8 lug stuff laying around.

Everything you\'d need except calipers, off a Ford D44HD, but that\'s a little big I think :)

[xjh3]

New to all this, I\'m assuming that there is more to 1/2 and 3/4 ton that just the extra 3 wheel studs... As in, your stuff wouldn\'t work with 5 stud drive flanges or whatever right?

[MrMindless]

I think the spindles are the same, but brake brackets and hubs and lockouts are all wrong

[xjh3]

So when I said my unit bearings were hosed, I didn\'t realize just how bad they were... Bad. To the point that there was no way my pads were pushing squarely on my rotor. Replaced them with some Timkens and put new pads on for the sake of simplicity and wheeling this weekend.

Braking is much better now, although my pedal is still very squishy. Been this way a while, I don\'t think it\'s a bleeding issue. Anyone know anything about upgrading master cylinder bore? Stock XJ according to NAPA is 1.0625, and stock Durango (which is a bolt in according to NAXJA) is 1.125. Might try that.

[smichaelR22]

i have two unit bearings you could have \"borrowed\"  dont forget a call to Arie is worth your time for any parts.

[xjh3]

Didn\'t even think about that. Just wanted it done before it rained.

[xjh3]

Today at WP as some of you know I spit out one of my u-joint caps. I\'ll be sourcing some new shafts shortly, and taking Keith\'s advice to put a tack on each new cap to keep them in place.

Mike and I also found that my pinion yoke had a bit of play up and down. I have no idea how long it\'s been like this. Before I talk myself into thinking that 4.88s are the only way to fix this, is it likely that I have done much damage to the gears themselves? Is there any chance I can pull the pinion preload back into spec by tightening that big nut?

[Wingman]

There is a crush sleeve in there.  If you tighten it, you may exceed your tolerances.  Can\'t see why it would hurt to snug it up to see if that addresses your issue...

[xjh3]

Found many threads on many different forums where people discussed pinion bearing replacement without gear setup. Hoping to just do that I guess.