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Author Topic: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions  (Read 82425 times)

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Offline anrkii

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #60 on: June 05, 2012, 05:46:12 AM »
Are you saying that a CJ carrier will work? I dropped my 235 unit at the shop along with a 354 xj carrier and gears without doing my homework first. whoops.
Can anyone else confirm/deny usage of a cj carrier?

Offline PR1AWRet

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #61 on: June 05, 2012, 01:13:15 PM »
The CJ carrier/gears won't work with the 2.35 carrier AND/OR 2.35 axle out of the Eagle.  Any other gear ratio/axle (2.73, 3.07, 3.54) will work from an Eagle (Anything lower, like 3.73-4.88 will require the carrier for those ratios but will fit in the Eagle axle.)  If you have a 2.73 carrier AND axle per se, you can use the CJ gears in it as with any CJ carriers/differentials. Detroit Locker, Ox Locker, ARB Locker, Detroit Trutrac (posi) etc.

Offline anrkii

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #62 on: June 06, 2012, 01:15:37 PM »
so its true that the entire 235 axle housing is the problem then?
Crap.

Offline The Dark Side of Will

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #63 on: April 23, 2014, 09:40:48 AM »
i called az diff. and had him ship the carrier and gear up to minnesota. After 2 months of i'll ship it tommorrow and 260 bucks i got the thing and not a chance it'll fit in the carrier. the ring gear he sent me is to big to even fit in if i machined the housing. i dont know what he did for you guys, but he may have just sent me something he had laying around to get me to stop calling. There is no evidence of machining he chargered 120 for on the carrier. i am going to drive 50 miles from my house there is a junk yard with a dana 35 independent front with 3.73's in a 97 ranger. splines are the same so i am going to use the housing and carrier off the ranger 35 and the axles, alxe tubes and cv shaft off the eagle 30. i will post how it goes.

That sounds interesting... pics of D35 IFS? How difficult is it to swap that into an Eagle?

Offline captspillane

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #64 on: June 16, 2014, 07:53:15 PM »
Keep in mind not all 2.35 axles used the problem casting. If you don't have 2.35 gears you are certainly safe but not all 2.35 gear axles are actually bad. Some are still good.The good casting that is compatible with 3.55 gears was used with 2.35 gear sets. The good casting was used with non-disconnect axles for 2.35 gears at the same time the bad casting was being used with disconnect axles.

Certainly in early years without disconnect, maybe in later years without disconnect, and possibly in later years with disconnnect. It's all pretty blurry.

Currently Inspected and Insured as of Jan 2013:
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Offline captspillane

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #65 on: June 16, 2014, 07:55:32 PM »
so its true that the entire 235 axle housing is the problem then?
Crap.

Yes the casting was different in that the bearing races were offset to one side. They actually used a standard carrier found in other Jeep applications but they used it in a non standard position because of the oddball offset bearing location.
Currently Inspected and Insured as of Jan 2013:
-1985 Eagle Station Wagon 258 T5 Stickshift
-1980 Eagle Station Wagon 258 Auto Fuel-injected with GM TBI

Minor Repairs Underway:
-1982 Eagle SX4 258 T5
-1981 Kammback 2.5L Iron Duke T5

Restoration Efforts Near Completion:
-1982 SX4- 401 NV3550
-1983 SX4- 4.5 MPI NSG370 (6 Speed)

Restoration Efforts Underway:
-1985 SW- 4.0 MPI AX15
-1982 SX4- 4.0 AW4
-1981 SX4- SD33T NV4500 (Turbodiesel 5 speed)

Future Rescue Efforts- '85 Maroon SW, '87 Limited SW, '84 Limited SW, '87 4 door Sedan, '81 2 door Sedan, '88 White SW, '77 4 door Hornet, '74 2 door Hornet, '79 Spirit AMX, '81 Kammback.

RIP- Red '81 SX4, '84 4dr Sedan, '84 SW, '81 SW, '80 Spirit, '83 SW, '83 4dr Sedan

Offline carnuck

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #66 on: June 17, 2014, 03:08:51 PM »
So if the solution is to swap the whole diff, check the classified section here! (hint hint)
AMC/Jeep gauges are for amusement only. Any correlation between them and reality is purely coincidental!

Offline kajsdf

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #67 on: September 11, 2014, 09:24:26 PM »
i hope somebody is still paying attention to this thread...

i am swapping an 8.25 axle with 3.55 gears (39/11 = 3.545454545454........) into an 85 non disconnect axle originally geared 2.73. i gather that the carrier will work up to 3.54 - are 3.55 and 3.54 close enough to run safely? i saw also in the thread that 3.55 will NOT fit an eagle d30 but a 3.54 will?

hoping for some clarification from someone who has also swapped in an 8.25 or ran those ratios...thanks
1985 eagle wagon limited
now more limited...
2150 swap...tf727/np229 swap...258 megabuild in the works...

Offline carnuck

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #68 on: September 12, 2014, 01:11:08 AM »
You need the gears from a low pinion D30. The XJ one is high pinion.
AMC/Jeep gauges are for amusement only. Any correlation between them and reality is purely coincidental!

Offline BenM

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #69 on: September 12, 2014, 10:23:18 AM »
The biggest difference AMC offered in front-rear ratios was the 2.72/2.73 axles at 18:49 and 15:41 for a .41% difference in speed. Both stock 3.54 axles are 13:46. If the 8.25 is 39:11 it should put you a .20%. I figure that if it's less than the biggest stock difference it's good. Only the 3.31 and the 3.54 ratios had an exact match front to back.

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1987 AMC Eagle Sedan -- 1976 Pacer Coupe -- 1968 Pontiac Tempest Custom S -- 1940 Mercury (& a 2002 Jetta Turbodiesel, 5 spd., the Wife's Daily Driver)

Offline TEagle85

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #70 on: September 14, 2016, 02:03:22 PM »
So I have the 2.35 in my Eagle and have been really wanting something else. I have a few quick questions Im trying to answered ASAP.

On craigslist I found a guy with a bunch of AMC parts, in those parts is a axle set from what I think is a 81 SX4. It has the disconnect on the front.

-Assuming they are anything other the the 2.35 can I swap in my 85 sedan without disconnect?

-Is there a way to lock it out?

-Should I get front and rear at the same time?

-Do I only need the front and just replace the carrier and gear in the rear? how easy is that to find?

Hes in Ohio and swinging through Chicago on Mon so trying to figure this out quick.
the little details Ill worry about later just want to know if I should jump on it.

Ive been burnt before jumping quick on a t-case to find it was the wrong spline. $85 down the drain.

Thanks guys

Offline Draekon

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #71 on: September 14, 2016, 07:00:55 PM »
If it really is from an '81 SX4 it should either have 2.73 or 3.54.

You might need to hangers from the '81 axle. There are some differences in lengths between the years/types.

You can lockout the disconnect axles using a hose clamp. There is a writeup in the eaglepedia.

Getting the rear that matches would be easiest. I don't know about swapping the carriers and gears in the rear. I assume that it would work without any issues. Most people seem to just upgrade to a better rear axle when going to a different gearing.


Offline The Dark Side of Will

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #72 on: July 27, 2020, 12:08:48 PM »
So I read this a LONG time ago... then forgot it all and ordered an Eaton 19817-010 E-Locker (3.54-) for my 3.54 front diff.

Fast forward through a lot of effort getting the left stub axle retained in the diff...

I find that the ring gear flange of course is wrong. After re-reading this thread, all I can think of is "Well, Duh."

I'm going to order a 19818-020 (3.73+) and try that, but it sounds like I'll still need a ring gear spacer to make it work with the Eagle gears.

Anybody want to buy a 19817-010 E-Locker for their 2.35 gears?
« Last Edit: July 27, 2020, 01:34:32 PM by The Dark Side of Will »

Offline The Dark Side of Will

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #73 on: August 31, 2020, 03:12:20 PM »
Played with the 19818 locker over the weekend.
I pulled the ring gear off the AMC-Unique carrier. The ID chamfer on the ring gear pilot bore is ~0.100 deep, which make things a little more difficult.

I took the three units into the QC lab to measure the flange offset using a height gauge.
3.54-: 1.820 (Spec from RockAuto is 1.810)
3.73+: 1.938 (+0.118 from 3.54-; spec is 1.943)
AMC:  2.149 (+0.211 from 3.73+; don't have a spec)

On both Eatons, the ring gear locating journal looks 0.320 long.

Soooooo... 0.320" (journal length) - 0.211" (difference in flange offset) = 0.109 (overlap of ring gear on locating journal)

0.109 overlap initially sounds good, EXCEPT that the ID chamfer on the ring gear is 0.100 deep. So maybe there's 0.010 overlap, maybe there isn't because +/-0.010 is about the best confidence I have in some of those measurements, as I was eyeballing edges next to the calipers.

HOWEVER, the AMC carrier was installed with 0.030 & 0.007 (0.037 total) shims on the gear side and 0.028, 2x 0.010 & 0.005 (0.053 total) on the far side. If I drop the far side shims down by 0.040 to 0.013 or so and increase the gear side shims by the same amount, that will move the ring gear flange 0.040 closer to the ring gear, which increases the overlap from 0.010 +/-0.010 to 0.050+/-0.010... which is workable.

That means that I can make a 0.170-0.180 ring gear spacer, which can be ground from a 3/16" laser cutting.

Because I'm adding a ring gear spacer and the stock ring gear bolts are 7/8" long, I can put the assembly back together with 1" ring gear bolts, which are hella easier to find than 7/8" bolts.




Offline Softbuster

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Re: Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions
« Reply #74 on: October 25, 2021, 08:59:43 PM »
So I'm trying to wrap my mind around all this info, correct me if im wrong.

I have a whole front axle from an 85 Eagle with the 2.35 gear set, that i wanted to drop better gears into.
If i order a CJ long pinion 46-13 tooth count gears, all i would need is a spacer and bolts
 to boot the ring gear closer to the pinon?
Is there a spacer off the shelf from a main supplier that would work?

I'm not running crazy Horsepower or crazy tires so it wont see extremes, not interested in a locker either.
1985 Eagle sedan rescue project

 

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