TJ to LJ part swap

[DropTopDon]

Brought an LJ home yesterday!

I plan on swapping all parts from my old TJ to the LJ and making my TJ stock again.
I will be swapping coil springs, shocks, all steering linkage, sway bars front and rear, track bars front and rear, cable shifter, control arms, axle shafts, tires, body lift, and MML lift. Would the easiest way to get the lift out and back in in be to take all steering out first and then get the axle housings at full droop so I don’t need a spring compressor? Just looking for some tips for the project.

 

[CharlesHS]

To make the parts transfer easier; you are going to need several jack stands and floor jacks OR a shop with a couple automotive lifts to suspend the Jeeps while shifting parts...
Probably suspend the Jeeps, lower the differentials, disconnect the shocks, sway bar links, trac bar, driveshaft and transfer the complete differentials including control arms and trac bars into the other Jeep.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I did it with one floor jack and 4 stands, just doing one end at a time. I did it in a 2.5 car garage I shared with my wife, so to minimize the time she had to park outside I started by taking the parts out of the LJ at a comfortable pace, then I'd pull the TJ in and swap the LJ parts into it, then pull it back out and finish putting the LJ back together at my leisure.

Unless there's a good reason you don't want to keep your axle housings and gears, I think that swapping those would save you a ton of time. That way you only have to disconnect one end of each suspension and steering component and move it all over as an assembly instead of both ends of one link at a time.

 

[Irun]

To be specific, 6 ton jack stands. As @freedom_in_4low said, focus on one side at a time. Line them up side by side, get a helper, if possible, and go to town. You should easily be able to swap it all in a weekend. Assuming no major issues.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

To be specific, 6 ton jack stands. As @freedom_in_4low said, focus on one side at a time. Line them up side by side, get a helper, if possible, and go to town. You should easily be able to swap it all in a weekend. Assuming no major issues.

Yes, need the height of the 6 tons.

I probably took a month to do mine, but that's because I'd go out and work for 60-90 minutes at a time once or twice a week after the kids went to bed, each time spending what seemed like half an hour getting my tools back out and getting back into the frame of mind for whatever I was in the middle of when I'd left off the last time. Then when I had a good uninterrupted block of 4+ hours is when I'd pull the TJ in and go hard at it.

 

[97TJNM]

I'm pretty stoked to watch this endeavor. Please make a build thread and chronicle this swap.

 

[TreverStevens]

Kinda to mimic what @freedom_in_4low said, why not just swap the entire axle housing since you're wanting the shafts and wheels on the new rig? Unless you have different gearing or lockers in the LJ that you're wanting to keep?

 

[OldBuzzard]

Dana 44 rear in both?

You shouldn't need a spring compressor. Unhook shocks, sway links, track bar, and jack the axle up on one end and dropping down on the other end. Springs should come right out by hand. On the front you might have to disconnect the axle end of the lower control arm (CA can hit axle bracket).

6 ton jacks are per pair, 3 tons each, but the industry standard is to name them per pair.

 

[DropTopDon]

I'm pretty stoked to watch this endeavor. Please make a build thread and chronicle this swap.

Will definitely do that! Sprayed all the bolts with Pb blaster today so they’re ready to be dissected tomorrow.

Kinda to mimic what @freedom_in_4low said, why not just swap the entire axle housing since you're wanting the shafts and wheels on the new rig? Unless you have different gearing or lockers in the LJ that you're wanting to keep?

Gearing is the same and no lockers. I guess the only reason I wanted to leave it is because the LJ axle housings are in better condition and have about 100k less miles of wear on them so they look much newer than the TJ ones, the TJ just has chromoly axles in the rear. Taking it out would just give me a reason to fix an axle seal leak I have. I guess if it saves me a lot of time and effort I could just swap the axle housings all together and clean them up while they’re out.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Will definitely do that! Sprayed all the bolts with Pb blaster today so they’re ready to be dissected tomorrow.


Gearing is the same and no lockers. I guess the only reason I wanted to leave it is because the LJ axle housings are in better condition and have about 100k less miles of wear on them so they look much newer than the TJ ones, the TJ just has chromoly axles in the rear. Taking it out would just give me a reason to fix an axle seal leak I have. I guess if it saves me a lot of time and effort I could just swap the axle housings all together and clean them up while they’re out.

In that case it's probably a wash. Cleaning up and painting an axle is tedious.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Will definitely do that! Sprayed all the bolts with Pb blaster today so they’re ready to be dissected tomorrow.


Gearing is the same and no lockers. I guess the only reason I wanted to leave it is because the LJ axle housings are in better condition and have about 100k less miles of wear on them so they look much newer than the TJ ones, the TJ just has chromoly axles in the rear. Taking it out would just give me a reason to fix an axle seal leak I have. I guess if it saves me a lot of time and effort I could just swap the axle housings all together and clean them up while they’re out.

Also pb blaster kinda sucks. I hear liquid wrench and kroil work pretty well, but I never see them on the shelf locally. I use a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone in a spray bottle.

 

[DropTopDon]

Say I decide to leave the housing in and pull and swap the axle shafts. will I have to replace both seals or can I simply pull it out and put it in the other housing?

 

[DropTopDon]

In that case it's probably a wash. Cleaning up and painting an axle is tedious.

When you pulled the axle housings, did you just set the calipers aside, and then put the tires back on to move the axles around?

 

[freedom_in_4low]

When you pulled the axle housings, did you just set the calipers aside, and then put the tires back on to move the axles around?

Yes. It was easier in front than rear. I had to pull the rear axle out the side because it was all too tangled up in the brake line and caliper assembly to come out the rear, so I lowered it onto a creeper to roll it around instead of putting tires back on.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Say I decide to leave the housing in and pull and swap the axle shafts. will I have to replace both seals or can I simply pull it out and put it in the other housing?

I think the seals would be fine. Just put a fresh coat of rtv on the outside of the seal where it seals up against the inside of the housing.

The trickier part may be getting the bearing race out without scratching it. Mine have always come out easy but I've seen videos on the YouTube where they were really stuck in there.