Chrysler 8.25 axle swap

[Jurjen]

Attached some pictures from the axle swap.
I used a XJ Cherokee axle with 3.07 gears to match my own. They were used in the 4.0 with 5sp. manual.

I made a wooden Jig on the old D35 axle to get the right position for the shock mounts
The reference point is the center hole in the spring perches.
I grinded the 8.25 mounts off and made the to fit the jig.
The mounts were tack welded in the jig, and welding was finished with the jig removed.

The last picture shows the "new" drive shaft: 1" shortened, straightened, balanced, new U-joints.

[eaglefreek]

Nice job. Good idea on the jig.

[Nightpath]

8.25 is really beefy looking under the Eagle. No room for a XJ tank though...but you dont have to worry about the axle busting

[captspillane]

8.25 is really beefy looking under the Eagle. No room for a XJ tank though...but you dont have to worry about the axle busting

I'm not sure why you say that. The axle clears the tank by a wide margin and still would in a wagon or SX4. The XJ tank is identical dimensions to an SX4 tank, which is much shorter than the wagon tank and doesn't slope up as much, but it still fits ok.

[Nightpath]

After I did my 8.25 swap I tried to fit the XJ tank under the Eagle, it was a lot fatter than the stock Eagle tank and was about 1" from the differential.

If you stick one up there I need to see a picture of it.

[rollguy]

Nice job. Good idea on the jig.

Actually to be "politically correct" it is called a "fixture"......Rich

[carnuck]

I test fit one in SOTE. Didn't fit well with the 8.25 but it's like an SX4. Fit fine in the parts wagon we scrapped (should've taken a pic)

[Nightpath]

Going to move my questions out of this thread to here : http://forums.amceaglesden.com/index.php?topic=44296.0