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Axle Swap & Electrical Question

1K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Juegernaut 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

So I just picked up a 98 ZJ Quadra-Trac to replace my 96 that had Selec-Trac.
My axle question is can I basically plug and play U joint axle shafts as a direct replacement to the CV's that came with the Jeep? And hints/tips/thoughts from anyone that has tried or done a similar conversion would be much appreciated.

As for my electrical issue, after browsing through some older threads it sounds like I just need to do some soldering to the headlight switch. I was hoping that someone may have some pictures of what I should expect? I also was going to replace the bulbs in the cluster and shifter since some were burn out anyway, has anyone got recommendations for coloured bulbs I could throw in? I came across a few LED builds, but I was hoping I could find some standard bulbs and keep it easy.

Thanks for your input
 
#3 ·
I was driving last night, and I noticed that my cluster gauges were flickering, same with interior lights when I turned them on. At first tapping the dimmer slide stopped it from happening but it would come back intermittently. A little while later I noticed that headlight switch was flickering more that anything else. Unrelatedly, the light is burn out behind the switch for rear defog so I have to go into the dash anyway, figured I'd look into the other issues while I was back there. Considering switching colours as well
 
#4 ·
#7 ·
Okay, why would you want to swap out the axles? The CV ones for the ujoints? I ran cv joints for almost 16 years. Never had an issue.

And I happened to wheel the crud out of it.

Hunter
 
#8 ·
My biggest concern was durability, but if you're wheeling in CV's that eases my mind a bit. I have a donor ZJ that has U's so I figured if the axles were the same its not anything to swap out the axle shafts between the two, I was just looking at the cost of CV's vs U's and I have a press to do the U's anyway. At this point I wasn't really concerned with doing it until I had a problem anyway, but I thought I read a post somewhere that mentioned there could also be a little more strain on CV's than U's when it was lifted
 
#9 ·
6.5 of Rubicon Express superflex lift, 4.56s for gears, 375 hp 5.9 crate motor, just a bit of stress. Cvs are much easier to fix on the trail. So, unless you plan on going bigger and wheeling like you're running the hammers, you'll be just great.

Hunter
 
#10 ·
I recently pulled my u-joint shafts and went back to CV's, I'd never had a problem with the CV joints, u-joints got annoying.
 
#11 ·
I just looked at Rock Autos site and the CV axle shafts are WAYYYY cheaper than the u-joint style. I like the way my CV equipped 98 drives better than the wifes 98 with the u-joints also.

GW
 
#12 ·
Yeah, where I live not so much, shipping is insane. I get a good discount from my work so I'd just go through them anyway, but I've gotten enough info to ease the concerns I had about CV's anyway. I may still switch them out someday, but I'm not gunna worry about it unless I run into some problem. For now just going to work on the transfer case swap.
 
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