I found something interesting and possibly very useful for those with the OE 8.25 rear end.
A friend gave me an 8.25 open rear as payback for building and installing a 8.75 for his big block Dart.
The rear he gave me is an OE 73-74 year which matches my 73 Dart. (Not that I care about year matching) but that’s cool.
Anyway, with a couple of hours of investigation I found that not only do the Jeep Cherokee disc brakes bolt right up, but with different carrier bearings the entire sure grip carrier from the Cherokee fits the old housing and axles perfectly with zero additional mods.
The pinion bearings are the same part number for both the OE 73-74 and the Cherokee 8.25.
I did have to spend about 20 for longer wheel studs because of adding the brake discs.
So at the local pick a part I got the sure grip carrier with 3:55 gears, pinion and all for 50 bucks.
On disassembly and inspection it looked near new.
The new bearings were also around 50.
Admittedly it’s not a 8.75 but from here on for 50 bucks I can replace the entire unit and or change gearing.
It’s been awhile since I swapped over from the 7.25, but I thought I would mention this as working perfectly with a few newer and available parts.