Chrysler 8 1/4

There are a few strings about Cherokee axle swaps on this site. Just search for Cheokee and you should find them.

The Dana 35 is probably not something that you want. It has 2.5" tubes and can't really be narrowed because the tubes are swedged to 3" at the ends. The 8.25 has 3" tubes. That's the easy way to tell them apart. The 8.25 is probably a better axle anyway.

Some people have said the Cherokee axle can be used without narrowing the axle by using wheels with the right offset, but that would just look weird to me. If you do want to try the Cherokee 8.25 swap, the Jeeps with the 2.5L 4 cylinder have 4.10:1 gears in it and can even be found with sure grip sometimes. The 4.0L Jeeps all had 3.55:1 ratios. There is also a point in the 96 or 97 model year where the splines on the axle shafts changed from 27 to 29, I think, so if you do narrow it you could need custom axle shafts.

Anyway, it can be done, but it isn't a bolt in swap and it would probably be easier to just find an 8.25 from a later model A body and build that to suit your needs, or go 8.75 if you have some money to spend. Just my thoughts. Good luck.