TJ/Ford 8.8 Conversion

By: J.E. Towle

AzVJC, Chandler, AZ

Page 2

Here is a list of parts I gathered, some place between the start of the project and the time the axle got back from Off Road Unlimited where the locker and gears were installed.

The brake pads I used were Performance Friction. I have heard good things about these pads and they are reasonably priced. The calipers are rebuilts, which will work fine. If your axle comes with the brake assemblies you will not need the guide pins or the banjo bolts. The hoses are two right hand Explorer brake hoses. E-brake cables I thought were going to be a pain to adapt but, I looked at Stu's web site and noticed from the disc brake conversion he did on his D44 that the e-brakes on the 8.8 were similar, if not identical. So I went to the dealer and ordered 1995 Grand Cherokee e-brake cables, these worked great. The "T" hose I ordered to have the brakes completed and the axle ready to bolt up. This hose is not necessary to buy, it helps though. It is a stock TJ "T" hose. The hard lines I used were straight and needed to be bent to fit the axle housing. I bought these long in case of any mishaps. Last but not least the yoke adapter and bolts. The yoke adapter came from NAPA. You can buy these from MORE for $50 or NAPA, near me, charges $21. Hmmmm, which will you choose. The yoke bolts are 11mm coarse thread 12 point, this is definitely a dealer item, unless you know something I don't. Don't forget to get the rotors turned. I went down to the local Midas and talked to the manager, he said, the guys in the shop can turn then, just tip them, no charge other than that. On the other hand, the people at AutoZone said they couldn't turn the e-brake surface on the inside of the rotor. Go figure, at the point you are doing the inside it is just like a drum. Oh well, I would rather give my money directly to the working guy at Midas.

Now we have all the parts together and we get the axle back from the shop we can start a final assembly. I have to apologize at this point. When I got started putting things back together, all I could see is the "finish line" so pictures weren't on my mind.

Put the guide pins in the calipers, then install the pads in the calipers. Make sure to put the piston side pad in first, duh (like I said I could see the finish line). Do this on both calipers then attach the calipers to the axle. Then you can attach the brake hoses to the calipers with the banjo bolts. Use a 7/16-20 bolt to hold the "T" hose in place and attach the caliper hoses to the axle (using the nuts that we already welded to the housing). Now you can bend and cut your hard lines to fit.

On the passengers side of the axle I tack a little piece of strap metal to hold the brake line. I also ran zip ties through some holes in the pumpkin and around the brake line to hold it there. Here is a view from a different angle.

The drivers side was tricky because of the short length, not as much room to hide mistakes.

Again a picture from a different view.

Once all your brake lines are installed you will be ready to install the axle into the TJ. Remember to take the breather fitting off your old axle and replace the bolt you used to hold the "T" hose with it.

The yoke adapter will accept your existing u-joint, you will need some clips to hold the caps in place. Someone gave me the clips, since I didn't have any, out of their trail parts box. Your driveshaft should not need modified if you originally had a D35. If you originally had a D44 you will probably have to get the drive shaft lengthened by about 1-1/2".

The final install to the vehicle took four of us about 4 hours, start to finish. It probably could have taken less if I wouldn't have kept miss-placing things.

Bleed your brakes good after the install and then enjoy the strength and the stopping power this axle will offer.

Here are a few links that helped me along the way:

Links to online parts vendors:

http://www.macromotive.com/      (Off Road Unlimited)

http://www.rubiconexpress.com/  (RE)

Links to 8.8 upgrade, both TJ & YJ:

http://www.geocities.com/yj3qtr_ton/88swap.html

http://forums.jeepsunlimited.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/005087.html

http://dreamwater.com/zuk/betterbrakes.html

http://jeepunlimited.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/005515.html

http://www.avalancheengr.com/rockrings/Ford_88.htm

http://www.yankeetoys.org/mangler/88swap.htm

http://members.cox.net/rough-riders/tech_page/ford8.8/ford8_8.html

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