Comanche/Cherokee rear end swap

[Jeepinc]

I recently purchased a 96 2wd Cherokee to fix my 89 4x4 comanche. Was wondering if the spring over rear from the Cherokee will fit the comanche 

[BeatCJ]

Not without some changes. The springs on a Cherokee are a little bit farther apart. There is an excellent diagram, and a photo showing the problem it creates in this post: 

 

It is simple to replace the spring perches. 

 

[boxyjeep]

Spring perches from an XJ are about .5" to 1" off.  You would need to re-weld them.  Best bet is to grab an older Explorer 8.8.  It has disc brakes, improved strength, no carrier break, and plenty of factory gearing/LSD options.

[omega_rugal]

8 hours ago, Jeepinc said:

I recently purchased a Cherokee to fix my comanche. Was wondering if the spring over rear from the Cherokee will fit the comanche 

 

do you want soem free lift?

[Pete M]

spring-over gives about 6" so be prepared to spend some cash on the front.  

[Dzimm]

12 hours ago, Jeepinc said:

I recently purchased a Cherokee to fix my comanche. Was wondering if the spring over rear from the Cherokee will fit the comanche 

 

The big question here is what year XJ did you get and what axle does it have under it?  No point in swapping over a D35 or a 96- C8.25 because it's a 27 spline axle.  if it's a 97+ XJ you will have the much stronger 29 spline C8.25 and is good for swapping into the MJ.  Second major question is the MJ 4x4 and what gears does it and the XJ have?  Your gear ratios MUST match front and rear.

 

As stated you need to move the perches no matter what you do with the XJ axle.  Do you plan on lifting?  As stated above you will get quite a bit of lift from going spring over, stay spring under if you want to stay stock height or less than 6" of lift.

[BeatCJ]

From what I have read, my interpretation is that spring over but using XJ springs will reduce that by about 1 1/2"? Is that accurate? I have a pair of 4 cylinder XJ springs that came from a 2wd 4 cylinder Cherokee that came with the 8.25 I got to replace my son's hashed D35.

[Pete M]

XJ springs are shorter in length and using them brings it's own set of issues to overcome.  You'll have to retain your MJ mains to locate the axle and you'll need to properly support it.  So if you took a full XJ pack, cut the eyes off, and slapped that under an MJ main, you might have something.   being made entirely of used leafs there's no exact prediction about the lift involved.  

 

I've got no idea what an XJ pack is rated for in weight carrying capacity. 

[BeatCJ]

Now that you made me look, according to General Spring's site, about half. I hadn't caught that they were shorter. Hmmm, disregard that. Thanks.