Swapping 2.35 gears out of the front... questions

[anrkii]

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?

[PR1AWRet]

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.

[anrkii]

so its true that the entire 235 axle housing is the problem then?
Crap.

[The Dark Side of Will]

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?

[captspillane]

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.

[captspillane]

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.

[carnuck]

So if the solution is to swap the whole diff, check the classified section here! (hint hint)

[kajsdf]

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

[carnuck]

You need the gears from a low pinion D30. The XJ one is high pinion.

[BenM]

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.

[TEagle85]

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

[Draekon]

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.

[The Dark Side of Will]

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?

[The Dark Side of Will]

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.

[Softbuster]

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.