ford 8.8

[newfie glass]

so i have been looking at upgrading my 98 zj's d35 to something better. i have heard that a ford 8.8 would be a great upgrade. i know there will be some fab work involved with the swap but i just wanted to know what is exactly envolved. Anyone have a better solution for an upgrade? thanks   

[dirty1]

I have a 5.9 that's getting a swap soon.I ordered a kit from Iron Rock Offroad for a 8.8 swap.I'm not putting the 8.8 in mine but Rubicon 44's in it.

Check Mallcrawlers.com or NAGCA.com for more info on this.

Cheers.

[cLAY]

You will need to weld on coil perches, control arm mounts, trac bar mounts, sway bar links, etc. The esaist way to do this is to buy a premade bracket kit and weld it onto the diff. This is the biggest obstacle.

ABS will probably not work anymore.

The axle is a bit narrower so you may need to add wheel spacers.

If the axle ratio isn't the same you will need to re-gear one of the diffs to match the other.

The 8.8 is a good upgrade for a mild trail rig and no matter what diff you upgrade to the above will apply.

Personally I'm not sure that the cost of upgrading an 8.8 to fit into a ZJ would be money well spent. A D35 could be upgraded to be as strong as an 8.8 for comparable money for what it would cost to put the brackets on an 8.8 and be a bit easier to do, no welding, bolt on sort of things.

What are your plans? How big a lift/tire, etc?

[newfie glass]

overall plan is to have a weekend warrior. looking for a 3"-4" lift and run 31 AT's. i want something that is capable enough offroad yet driveable in the city. what would you recommend for beefing up the stock d35?

[WhiteOut]

For what you want, nothing. No point is beefing up an axle that wont get hurt running 31's unlocked. If you go to 33's then toss a 44a from a ZJ in there for peanuts, the front 30 will take 33's as well with minimal money spent.

[newfie glass]

i do have an issue when putting the diff into reverse. occasionally it will make a "clunk" sound. when changing the oil we noticed some play in the pin when moving the tire in reverse. i was told it could be a shim or something just worn that keeps the pin in place. should i just re-gear it?

[WhiteOut]

If it is going out I would grab a 44a and swap it in if you have 3.73 gears already, good up to 33's and you can beef them up for relatively cheap if you need to. The only downside is the lack of locker options.

[BlackYJ]

Everything that Clay said, plus adapting the braking system of the 8.8 to the Jeep, ie parking brake and if you have an axle with discs and you currently have drums.  Plus you will need an adaptor flange for your driveshaft to mate up with the 8.8.  However, these are only $40 from any driveline store like Pats or DSI  

Also I ran my D35 with an ARB and 33s for a couple seasons with no problems.  It all depends on how much skinny pedal you use

[apeman]

leave the d35 in there and buy some spare shafts...and a lunchbox locker can be thrown in...31's arent going to kill it, just dont romp on it.

[cLAY]

The 44a isn't really considered an upgrade to the D35 due to it needing trussing and the fact that that lockers for it are VERY rare.

As said for just 31s I would run the d35 as is. For upgrades alloy shafts can be swapped in, there is also a Super 35 kit that comes with locker and heavier shafts with bigger splines. Might want to google that. Disc brakes are easily adapted by getting the backing plates off of a newer ZJ and bolting them on.

[newfie glass]

after reading through the reply's i think i will stick with the d35 and just order some new gears. maybe weld up the axle tubes as well. thanks for the help guys!

[vantagetes]

A good choice for your target tire size. D35s are like a dime a dozen so even in the unlikely event of you popping an axle or some spider gears it would cost you all of $20 to get it fixed up. Heck I own two D35s and I'm not even gonna use them for anything!