8 1/4 rear and jeep brakes!

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Lots of room between the caliper and the inner rim. Don't worry...that caliper is just for mock up. Gonna go new rotor and caliper, just wanted to make sure it all fit.

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So what would you guys recommend for a prop valve? I have Kelsey Hayes discs up front ( ford mustang rotor conversion ) and Cherokee discs out back. I have a manual brake setup cause I'm going modern Hemi.
 
MopaR&D said:
I just found this thread and one thing stood out, I know for a fact I was able to remove 11" drum brakes from a 1969 8 3/4" axle housing and bolt them up with no mods to a 1990s 8 1/4" housing out of a Jeep Cherokee XJ. Only difference was the 8 1/4" housing had one less bolt on each side at the tube flange. I put that whole setup in a 1988 Chrysler M-body to upgrade from the 7 1/4" with those atrocious 2.21 gears, all dropped right in!

Older Grand Cherokees are all over the place here in junkyards and for sale, Colorado is Jeep land.
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sorry if this is old news or explained somewhere else but I have a 7 1/4" rear end on my duster and would LOVE to snag a jeep XJ 8.25" rear end and drop it in for an upgrade to disc brakes when I do my front end brake upgrades. Is there any info on this that could be shared? Thanks!
 
72smallairparticler said:
sorry if this is old news or explained somewhere else but I have a 7 1/4" rear end on my duster and would LOVE to snag a jeep XJ 8.25" rear end and drop it in for an upgrade to disc brakes when I do my front end brake upgrades. Is there any info on this that could be shared? Thanks!
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It's not very common from what I've seen over the past ~12 years of doing this stuff lol, not really sure why tbh they're a dime a dozen. I don't remember offhand how the width matches up with an A-body but for sure at the very least you'd need to cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones (XJs are axle-under-spring, opposite of most applications). I don't know if XJs ever got rear disc brakes though AFAIK they always had teeny-weeny rear drums, might have to grab the brake setup off a Liberty or ZJ/WJ (Grand Cherokee).

Nice part is though the vast majority of XJ 8.25s came with 3.55:1 gearing from the factory.
 
MopaR&D said:
It's not very common from what I've seen over the past ~12 years of doing this stuff lol, not really sure why tbh they're a dime a dozen. I don't remember offhand how the width matches up with an A-body but for sure at the very least you'd need to cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones (XJs are axle-under-spring, opposite of most applications). I don't know if XJs ever got rear disc brakes though AFAIK they always had teeny-weeny rear drums, might have to grab the brake setup off a Liberty or ZJ/WJ (Grand Cherokee).

Nice part is though the vast majority of XJ 8.25s came with 3.55:1 gearing from the factory.
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Yeah I used to have a 92 XJ with a 6 and it was pretty spunky even lifted due to those gears. Even with the width mods (if needed) and the perch re-locations, I think swapping in some Liberty discs is still cheaper than a kit since I have the puny stock rear end.
 
72smallairparticler said:
Yeah I used to have a 92 XJ with a 6 and it was pretty spunky even lifted due to those gears. Even with the width mods (if needed) and the perch re-locations, I think swapping in some Liberty discs is still cheaper than a kit since I have the puny stock rear end.
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If you have access to ones in good condition for good prices I'd definitely go for it. In fact IIRC the 1997-later 8.25 has stronger axles with more splines.

I really miss my XJ, it was a '93 with the 4.0L I-6 and 5-speed manual. I changed it over to 3.55s (stock manual final-drive ratio is 3.07) and man that thing was so fun to drive both on and off road. Sadly in August of 2021 I got rear-ended by a kid not paying attention and it was a hard enough hit it bent the driver-side rear frame rail and totaled it. I pulled the engine, trans, clutch hardware, driveshafts, pedals, pretty much everything to convert an auto XJ (or one with no drivetrain) to manual.
 
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MopaR&D said:
If you have access to ones in good condition for good prices I'd definitely go for it. In fact IIRC the 1997-later 8.25 has stronger axles with more splines.

I really miss my XJ, it was a '93 with the 4.0L I-6 and 5-speed manual. I changed it over to 3.55s (stock manual final-drive ratio is 3.07) and man that thing was so fun to drive both on and off road. Sadly in August of 2021 I got rear-ended by a kid not paying attention and it was a hard enough hit it bent the driver-side rear frame rail and totaled it. I pulled the engine, trans, clutch hardware, driveshafts, pedals, pretty much everything to convert an auto XJ (or one with no drivetrain) to manual.
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Bummer! I always wished my XJ was a 5-speed manual. Sold it to a young veteran who still 4-wheels with it up in northern california. Super fun!
I'll keep you posted if I end up finding a good priced rear end to do the swap. Thanks for the tip on the post '97 models. The more strength the better!
 
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