Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

My 8.8 ZJ Rear End Build Thread

44K views 231 replies 41 participants last post by  Gcnettl 
#1 ·
I picked up an 8.8 rear end today from an Exploder... 3:73 gears which is what I have now, some rust (has a good amount of rust, stock with fords). Now I will be working on fitting it into the rear of my 1998 ZJ in place of the Dana 35.

The axle at the pull your own parts yard was $86, but every first wednesday is half price day on parts. So $43 for an 8.8 :2thumbsup: And being I got there with about an hour to work on it, I had the guys cut it out with the torch. $50, a huge ask tractor, and a gigantic engine crane to lift the exploders rear end later, I had an 8.8. Only downside I see is drum brakes, and I noticed tonight I have two small holes in the diff cover :(

PICS:






I had to make sure there was metal underneath that rust!



I will need everything for this install so any links/write-ups would be appreciated. I will need the brackets and all so... yeah. Thanks :thumbsup:
-Pat
 
See less See more
5
#2 ·
#4 ·
Pat, that first link is the one I followed to prepare mine. No all I have left to get for it is the truss from claytons.

ARP wheel studs: 30$ (ish)
Spicer Dana yoke adapter: 35$ locally
Brackets and tabs: Mine are cut from a d35. I would recommend going with ballistic fab stuff though. its MAD beefy and very affordable.

Mine was 200$, but I have NEW discs on it, they are like a month old from the looks of it. It also has a LSD. You made away with a steal though.

Here is my rust bucket, turned beauty queen. :rofl:


 
#6 ·
I have a Clarke 130EN which is a 110 (not planning on using other than to tack) and then my buddy just bought a 220 Clarke a couple of days ago and he said I could use it. Both are Wire feed, otherwise if I feel like doing stick I know someone else that has a 220 Lincoln Stick.
 
#8 ·
Lookin good. If you have drums it is most likely only 28 spline shafts but still stout. For a diff cover I used the stock one with a $50 Rusty's diff guard. RS is the way to go if you can swing it.
 
#12 ·
A couple of Questions.

1.) Will my ZJ Disc setup fit on the 8.8 with little modification? If yes, what is required?

2.) What is the big circle thing on the left side by where the input from the transfer case comes in? You can see it in the first pic.

3.) What do I need to do to my driveshaft? I have ~6" of lift now and my shaft sticks out of the t-case probably 2.5" from stock. Wouldnt the 8.8 have a bigger yoke, and therefore require a shorter driveshaft and I should be good?

4.) What about ABS and E-Brakes?
 
#15 ·
nice man, guess iron rock cleaned out the 44s and 8.8s because when i went with nick, there were a shat load of 8.8s and two 44s. oh well, atleast your ***** little 35 will be gone :thumbsup: abs is over-rated. so your rear-end has a limited slip now? :rofl: wow that sounds really gay
 
#16 ·
Ditch the ABS! It's possible to have it, just not worth it for some. (or me) As for the e-brake... I read a TJ 8.8 build thread and he said he used ZJ cables for the e-brake. perfect.

I was just wondering the same thing about the driveshaft length, the pinion on these 8.8's are LONG. I will most likely just move my rear axle back a few inches and then have my DS shortened if I need it to be.
 
#17 ·
I've been researching this same swap. Everything from your disk brakes should swap over to the 8.8, including the backing plate. I also don't think your driveshaft should be a problem from everything I've read. You'll just need to get an adapter for the goofy Ford setup. There are a couple links to the adapters in that MallCrawlin thread. I'm going with RuffStuff Specialties for my brackets. Dan at RuffStuff was super helpful with making sure I was going to get everything I needed, and it only came to around $100 or so, and his stuff is super beefy.
 
#19 ·
I also don't think your driveshaft should be a problem from everything I've read. You'll just need to get an adapter for the goofy Ford setup.
When mine was pulled, the guy just cut the driveshaft so I still have part of it on there and it appears to be the same as my current setup in the rear. I thought the "adapter" was just the OEM Exploder adapter.
 
#22 ·
Made some more progress today, some noticable progress I guess to say the least. I took out all of the brake lines, took out what i figured was the ABS Sensor (Sensor located on the top of the diff housing), took off the drums, also took off the swaybar, and took off most of the rust except for some here and there. I am leaving it upside down to drain fluid until next time I work on it.

To my surprise the brake shoes still have a good amount of pad left. I still have to pull the brake components off, and pull the shafts to check everything out in there. I also have to strip all of the old suspension mounts off and then ground all of that smoothly.

1.)The one problem I am having now is the fact that I cannot seem to get the u-joint off from the yoke and driveshaft. What is the best way to do this?






 
#24 ·
that looks like it is tha adapter flange that you do need anyway. Just pound out the U joint. and leave the flange bolted to the pinion.

That board behind the axle... is that what was left after a mini ramp project by chance? it looks alot like the scraps we had after building a mini half pipe at a friends house.
Okay this may sound dumb, but where is the best place to pound? I took a 14mm impact socket and put it on one of the faces of the ujoint with a rubber mallet and tried pounding but it did not seem to make any progress even with PB Blaster.

As for the board, yeah it was from a ramp. But for when I used to be into the whole RC Trucks stuff.
 
#25 ·
well, the problem is that you arent using 3 pounds of love. Get a REAL hammer and that might do the trick. Those things are hard pressed into there.

The best solution would be to unbolt it, then use a socket to press it out either in a LARGE vice. (my own personal method) or a press. you could use a bottle jack and put it under something heavy (IE: tractor, or a big truck) and press it out that way. use one socket to push the u joint through a bigger diameter socket under the heavy object.
 
#28 ·
The difference on the Explorer driveshaft is that if it's like the 95up ones it came with a 1330 U-joint. The Jeep has a 1310. You can get the right flange, probably from a Ranger, or get an addapter U-joint. 1310 one way and 1330 the other. The only noticable difference is the 1330 is wider between caps. Lookin great. A ball joint tool works exellent for U-joints. Or unbolt it from the axle and put it in the bench vise. No pounding needed. If you don't have either method available, strike the metal around the cap, not on it, to get it to pop up, or put in on something solid, put a socket larger than the cap under the cap toward the hard surface, and a smaller one, like your 14 mm on the top cap and a big hammer. Good luck.
 
#35 ·
I would say that as long as they're the spidertrax style, they should be ok, just keep checking them. And if you got new wheels, I would still use spacers to make up the difference for width of the rear axle, but get all the wheels with the same backspacing to make up the spacer you have now. So essentially you would only have spacers on the rear axle. Either way is probably fine, and new rims would be kinda pricey if you didn't just get steel ones.
 
#36 ·
Automotive Racing Products. They make high quality STRONG studs and bolts, they are used in racing, would spidertrax ever be used in racing?

No, get the ARP studs. Heat treated 8740 chrome moly. Tensile strength of 200,000 psi. Forget about spidertrax. Youd spend more money that way anyway. Just got some longer studs, a 5/8" spacer for each side and you are back to being the same width.

Here is the part number of the studs you need. 100-7703

ARP catalog
 
#37 ·
Automotive Racing Products. They make high quality STRONG studs and bolts, they are used in racing, would spidertrax ever be used in racing?

No, get the ARP studs. Heat treated 8740 chrome moly. Tensile strength of 200,000 psi. Forget about spidertrax. Youd spend more money that way anyway. Just got some longer studs, a 5/8" spacer for each side and you are back to being the same width.

Here is the part number of the studs you need. 100-7703

Link to ARP
That would be saying the 8.8 is only 1 and a quarter inches larger than the d35. Remember, I have spacers now.

Where can I find just plain spacers?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top