TJ blowout special

Ragtoprolling63

Active Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Location
Fayetteville N.C.
I have a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. I have replaced 3 rear ends that is enough.Going to do a Ford Explorer rear end to do the swap is there anyone in the Fayetteville NC area that would be interested in helping me out. Explaining a little about it?
 
Why have you had to replace 3 rear ends?

I know that with a ford 8.8 you will be fine. I have daily driven and raced on the same ford 8.8 axle for over 6 years now with stock shafts and 4.10 gears with 35s. Only thing that changed was an ARB a year ago.

The swap is such a common and straight forward project. Being a TJ you will have a little more welding involved with the coils buckets and a track bar. Us XJ guys have it easy with leaf springs. Barnes4wd makes a TJ 8.8 Swap kit which give you everything you need to do it. If you can weld then its simple, if you can’t, find a 4x4 shop that can and that you trust.

The 8.8 has many different configurations. The Explorer 8.8 came with 5 (that I know of) setups. There's 3.55 gearing open diff, 3.73 open diff, 4.10 open and then a preferred Limited Slip 3.73 (Door Code D4 I believe) and 4.10 Limited Slip (door code D2).

The 8.8 is a dime a dozen in the JYs. I used to hit up Young’s U-Pull-it in Goldsboro NC and snag an axle for $50 if you can carry it 50 feet. That may have changed since 2013, but there was, and probably still, no short supply of Ford Explorers out in the world you can rob one from. Not to mention Facebook Marketplace or craigslist you might find one pulled ready for pickup somewhere.

Other things to check are the outside flange seals and bearings. Cheap to replace. And of course do yourself a service and do all new brakes. You will also need an E-Brake Cable kit for the swap. I believe East Coast Gear Supply in Raleigh will be your go to for that.

The rear brake line may need adapting. I used a Dodge Dakota rear passenger brake line. Again, XJ guy here, you may require something shorter or longer given your setup. A trip to the parts store, you maybe able to mix and match random lines to fit your need.
 
I just finished up an Artec 8.8 swap kit in a friends TJ. Everything went together really nice and was simple, just time consuming. They don't really give you any guidance for brake lines so that was a bit of trial and error, but other than that it was easy.
 
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