wolfpackjeeper Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Ok, I have started looking for a set of Moabs for project: Street Comanche. I think they will look great on a lightly lowered comanche. On top of that I was cleaning out my outbuilding and found a box or two of parts that I thought were sitting in my trail rig 700mi away. It turns out that I also have a wj brake setup handy, it has the spindals, brackets and calipers all there. Now for the questions: If I swap everything over, does anybody happen to know if the stock drag link and tie rod will still work, I will need a set of unit bearings since the 2wd manche I have looks like it uses normal wheel bearings. I would just get a set of 1991 or so hubs and run with those, I will also need a set of spacers made to go between the bearings and the spindal. I think the rotors I want are from a 2004 ford explorer sportrac. I will get new lower balljoints and WJ uppers, wj Pads. Does anybody else happen to know what I will need? I don't need to run high steering since it will be a street rod, which changes it up from the normal design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 You can't run 1991 XJ/MJ hubs with WJ brakes. The MJ has a 5x4.5" bolt circle, the WJ has a 5x5" circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbhill Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 if he uses explorer rotors, there a 5x4.5 bolt pattern. are you wanting to use 2wd or 4wd expo rotors? as the 4wd is floating and the 2wd is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 How do you put Explorer rotors on WJ hubs with a different bolt circle? And even if you redrill the rotors to fit on the hubs, the front wheels then have a different bolt circle than the back wheels. And how do you know the rotor offset is the same as the WJ rotors? I'm confused. I know people do WJ front brake conversions, but they don't ignore the bolt circle issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Eagle is correct. You CAN do this, BUT you need to go complete WJ from the knuckles out. You WILL end up with a 5 on 5 bolt pattern, so you may want to do the same out back to make it match. Its a good upgrade in strength and design. The steering linkage is different so you will need that as well. The drag link is also different, BUT the stock one MAY work. On that I am not sure. I HAVE seen one done where the guy was able to retain the 4.5 on 5 bolt pattern, but I do not know if he mixed parts or re-drilled rotors/hubs. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfpackjeeper Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 you can pretty much take your pick on which hub to use. My friend just did this on his 1997 XJ. Used new 1991 hubs, which have the 5 on 4.5 pattern and he redrilled WJ rotors. I have heard of using TJ hubs as well. It is pretty easy to keep 5 on 4.5 if you want to, it can lead to hassles with the rotors though if you are not careful. I can get all of that done, it does not worry me. I am waiting on an email from him with pictures of what he did. It is the steering linkage and such that I am unsure of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 You also have to switch to 16" rims, I believe, because I don't think 15" rims will clear the WJ calipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 It is the steering linkage and such that I am unsure of. The steering linkage is completely different. WJs do not use the inverted Y setup. The tie rod does not attach to the drag link. It attaches to the passenger knuckle. The drag link also attaches to the passenger knuckle like this: This should give you a good idea of what you need. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfpackjeeper Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 yea, I think I am going to have to break down and buy/make a beefy setup that it does not really need, if so oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Not sure what it takes on the 2wd, but a lot of ppl are wunning Wj knuckles on the passenger side only. I believe Rusty's or some other cookie cutter off road out fit makes the spacer the 4wd users need so they can continue to run the same stub shaft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 ...you will need to swap to 4wd knuckles to do this swap. I would swap to a 4wd front axle because you cannot run the 4wd unit bearings without the outer-axleshaft end in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfpackjeeper Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 hmm, I had not thought of that, however, the wj that donated this kit to us was a 2wd, might be able to play with the hubs a bit press out one center and install another. what about newer 2wd XJ's they used unit bearings too right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 hmm, I had not thought of that, however, the wj that donated this kit to us was a 2wd, might be able to play with the hubs a bit press out one center and install another. what about newer 2wd XJ's they used unit bearings too right? newer 2wd xj's used the same bearing as the 4wd with a stub shaft in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfpackjeeper Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 hmm, I had not thought of that, however, the wj that donated this kit to us was a 2wd, might be able to play with the hubs a bit press out one center and install another. what about newer 2wd XJ's they used unit bearings too right? newer 2wd xj's used the same bearing as the 4wd with a stub shaft in them. cool, I had not had the chance to check into that yet today. Another option I have would be to go with the newer hubs that do not require the spacer, and switch to my 9" which has 5on5 lugs. Then I could save a little money and get the JK moabs which appear to run cheaper. However it would mean I need to get moving on setting up discs for the 9" and go find the right pinion bearing and reset the 3rd on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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