Need a cheap way to get back on the road

Chad97tj

Chad97tj

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Joined
Jan 6, 2021
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Rhode Island
Hey every one , new to the forum and the wrangler family. I have owned a few zjs in the past and after years of trading FINALY got a TJ.

so main issue is I’m trying to get this girl back on the road. She is a 97 with a 4.0l ax15, 231j t-case and was told has stock - 3.07 gears. Prev owner blew up the spider gears in the rear and now I’m just trying to get it to go down the road in 2wd, needs a new carrier.

My plan is to take the 3.73 assembly out of one of my ZJS and do a swap, would these work , I can turn a wrench but don’t know a lot about gears and things, I will be running 31/10.5x15, money is a issue rn so any help would be great.

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If the spider gears are bad then just replace them to get the rig back on the road.

As far as swapping the 3.73 gears from the GC axle to the TJ axle that is harder to do.

First are they both the same axle? Dana 35 ?

Trying to setup used gears is HARD and not easy even for experienced mechanics who do gear setups all the time.
 
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I tried to put the carrier from a Dana 35 3.73 in it but it looks like I need smaller shims idk . There is not many stock axles around here.
 
Wildman said:
If the spider gears are bad then just replace them to get the rig back on the road.

As far as swapping the 3.73 gears from the GC axle to the TJ axle that is harder to do.

First are they both the same axle? Dana 35 ?

Trying to setup used gears is HARD and not easy even for experienced mechanics who do gear setups all the time.
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The spiders were bad and broke a clip. So what I did to move it around the yard was took out the ring and the upper and lower spiders, kept the side gears so the shafts stay in. I was thinking new spiders from the 3.73 in the tj carrier housing throw the 3.07 ring back on and call it a day but don’t want to blow anything up lol
 
Chad97tj said:
The spiders were bad and broke a clip. So what I did to move it around the yard was took out the ring and the upper and lower spiders, kept the side gears so the shafts stay in. I was thinking new spiders from the 3.73 in the tj carrier housing throw the 3.07 ring back on and call it a day but don’t want to blow anything up lolAnd sorry yes both are Dana 35
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Yes you can't just put the carrier with the 3.73 ring gear into the axle with the 3.07 pinion gear in it. They won't mesh up.

Yes take the spider gears from the one carrier and put them into the TJ carrier and replace the broken parts. Then slap it back together.

Then start looking for someone parting out a 4cyl TJ as they came stock with 4.10 gears and buy both axles. A lot of times you can find them for pretty cheap.
 
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Wildman said:
Yes you can't just put the carrier with the 3.73 ring gear into the axle with the 3.07 pinion gear in it. They won't mesh up.

Yes take the spider gears from the one carrier and put them into the TJ carrier and replace the broken parts. Then slap it back together.

Then start looking for someone parting out a 4cyl TJ as they came stock with 4.10 gears and buy both axles. A lot of times you can find them for pretty cheap.
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Ok sweet , will the carrier bearings be the same or a little bigger ?
 
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Chad97tj said:
I’m sorry for the confusion, the tj carrier is not allowing the tj gears to lay flush causing binding. The GC carrier is 100% fine
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You should be able to move the carriers from the GC to the TJ. Make sure you use the bearing race that were with the carrier from the GC. And of course the 3.07 gears on the GC carrier. Then tighten everything back down.
 
If you end up swapping the entire axle housings, I believe the ZJ dana 35 has slightly different bracketry on it compared to the Tj. The dana 30 up front should be a straight swap, however, ZJs could have either a long pinion or short pinion depending on the year. The TJ only used short pinion. Driveshafts may or may not work if you swap them.
 
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So looking at the tj carrier, it’s done for. Where the races would sit , whatever broke caused the whole tj carrier to crack. Reason I’m trying to just take a gc whole assembly and go they route.... I tried putting it in but looks like the bearing shins are a hair to big. Smaller shims possibly?
 
Chad97tj said:
So looking at the tj carrier, it’s done for. Where the races would sit , whatever broke caused the whole tj carrier to crack. Reason I’m trying to just take a gc whole assembly and go they route.... I tried putting it in but looks like the bearing shins are a hair to big. Smaller shims possibly?
Click to expand...

You need to use the shims that were with the TJ carrier with the GC carrier.


Can you post some pictures of what you're dealing with? Make it easier for us to offer help.
 
I say the tj done for, like I said I tried using the tj shims on the gc carrier but will only fit if I don’t put one in.

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Yep that carrier is SHOT. Typical of the Dana 35 carrier.

You'll have to watch it if that last shim won't go back in. It could throw off your pattern and you might get noise. Plus you could end up with ruined gears.
 
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May be easier to find a Dana 35 with the 3.73 gears for a few hundred and swap that in and upgrade later as well.
 
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Hoping I followed along all righ, haha.

You'll need a new carrier if you want to keep the 3.07 gears. I think the carrier break is 3.55 and up. However, if your gears are good, you can get a carrier from Yukon for $60-80 probably? Make sure it's a D35c, the earlier ones did not have c-clips. You can use the ZJ spiders.
 
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