justanotherjeepr

If that is the case, I stand corrected. Good luck with your swap! :thumbsup:

But what's the ratio? The ZJ box the original poster is looking for is better for street driving because it has a 12.7:1 ratio, whereas the XJ and MJ boxes have a 14:1 ratio (or 18:1 in the early ones with the off-road package). If you'll be doing serious off-roading with larger tires, especially in/on rock, you want more of a reduction ... higher number, but the trade-off is "slower" steering on pavement. If most of your driving is on the road, the faster ZJ box makes it much easier to stay in your lane on the highway. IIRC, the Durango box is a faster ratio than the XJ/MJ stock box. Here's a link with some more info. The piston bore is much bigger which turns those tires a lot easier. http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/dodg ... yj-571945/

Consider also the steering box from a late 90's 4x4 Durango. Same bolt pattern and lines, but much bigger bore for more turning power.

Don't know if anyone has said it yet, but the 00 XJ block will not have a hole or a provision for your distributor. It might be easier to keep the distributorless ignition, but either way it sounds like a challenging project unless you've got a total donor vehicle.