I'm planning to replace my front axle assembly with a pull from a '95 XJ. All the differential guts are in excellent shape aside from a leaking inner seal. The issue is I really don't want the 5-260X shafts currently installed. The issue with the '99 I plan to swap the 95 assembly onto is with the pinion bearings, and doesn't seem to effect the shafts. My '99 has the 5-297x shafts installed, which are what I'd prefer to have. Both are 3.55 Dana 30s, Non-ABS.
Can I straight swap the axle shaft + unit bearing assembly, etc. from my 1999 axle onto the replacement 1995 assembly?
Can I simply replace my 297x joints with newer 760x joints as I'm doing the swap?
Should I be taking this 95 assembly back to the scrap yard and hoping an assembly for less than $265 shows up with fewer than 130k miles on it in the next few months?
Why are you replacing the front axle in the first place? You should be able to use your unit bearings, shafts, brakes, basically everything on the older axle.
As far as price, I have yet to pay more than $125 for a fully assembled dana 30 in my area. All from craigslist. I see them for $100 all the time, only paid more once because I was in a pinch. That's hub to hub with brakes. Maybe prices are different in your area though.
I have a non-ABS Jeep. Prior to 96 the non-ABS Jeep still had the 260s.
And in general my pinion bearings are on the way out. Lateral movement, vibrations, and leaks. Also my original spider gears don't look so hot.
Thanks for the advice so far guys. And apparently everything near me, at least according to car-part and Craigslist, says 250+ is the going rate for Dana 30s. It seems like all XJ related stuff is super expensive here in Kentucky, never understood it.
This almost bit me when I bought late model axle shaft assemblies when I broke a shaft on my '88. We debated grabbing the rotor when we pulled the shaft at Pick-n-Pull. Good thing we did, the old rotor has a different inside diameter & won't go on the later model hub.
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