bkahler

That's good to know. I like the looks of that 94 Cherokee master cylinder. It's not the cheapest around but I still might give it a try.

The sending unit I bought was a drop in for the original tank. The Tanks Inc tank might be a different story. I do know you can remove the sending unit assembly from the round plate just by removing one nut so you just as easily could move the DCM sending unit from the round plate and install it on any plate you want to.

Question: Can a brake MC from a rear drum/front disc vehicle be used on a vehicle with disc front and rear? 1994 Cherokee MC

Just a few ramblings as I start into this diff swap, front disc conversion and brake MC change. I ordered a 97 Grand Cherokee rear axle with disc brakes over the weekend and might have it as early as mid next week. I should be receiving the front disc kit from Charlie this evening. The balance of the components needed for the front disc conversion I ordered from Amazon and they should be here this evening as well. I'm going to go ahead and remove the king pins so I can do the drilling and tapping of the steering knuckles on my drill press instead of trying to freehand them with a hand drill. I've stared doing some research on the master cylinder swap and it appears that the Cherokee MC is highly recommended and I found a few references to a Toyota Celica MC. I measured the piston stroke on my original MC and it has a stroke of approximately 1.5". I'm assuming any replacement MC should have the same basic 1.5" stroke. I'd rather not get into redesigning the brake pedal setup so any tips in this area would be appreciated. Any thoughts on running the original MC for a while to get a feel for how things are working? For those of you that have installed Charlies front disc kit, did you mount the calipers in front or behind the wheels? I would think the suggested brake hose length would change depending on orientation.

Good question At this point I don't have a clue. This whole swap process is a whole new field for me. I guess a proportioning valve is something I'll have to some research on.

Now that I'm committed to disc front brakes (on order) and most likely discs in the rear the next change has to be the brake master cylinder. I'm considering using an AC Delco 18M802 that was discussed in this thread. Lots more work to do now! Brad

Did you mount this master cylinder? If so how well is it working? I'm going to be buying a new MC for my truck now that I'm installing a Grand Cherokee rear axle and any details you can provide would be great! Thanks, Brad

After Ken suggested using Evpo-rust on my diff pumpkin I'm extremely impressed at how well it removes rust. I've used it on a few other things and they come out spotless. You might consider using it if you haven't already.

I haven't heard back but he did mention that they were closing soon and might not get to it. My guess is I'll hear something Monday morning. Have money in hand, just need to be sure Brad

As it turns out there are no rear axles available in the configuration that I need close by. I checked out the four yards close to me with zero luck. Plenty of Jeep Grand Cherokees but all are 99 and newer with the 5 x 5 bolt pattern and 65" wide wms. The ones I could find that would work were 3.55 axles. I want 3.73. I've got a line on a 97 3.73 with disc brakes and they are measuring the wms distance right now. I hope to hear back shortly.

It's always great when a plan comes together perfectly! Congratulations on a job well done Brad

DCM Classics has fuel tank senders available that have the correct ohm range for our trucks. They have a new style that I bought for my original B3B tank that dropped right in. Brad

Correction! It is 2-3/4" wider than the stock differential !! Will take care of that in the morning.

Yep, original 16" wheels. As far as how far they sit back, I don't know. It's been a long time since I've had the bed and fenders mounted! The problem is likely to be the 2-3/4" difference between the 2002 Cherokee and the original plus the smallest wheel adapter I can find is 1" so that's 4-3/4" difference, which is a lot. I still haven't found out how much wider the Rusty Hope conversion is for the front WMS.

The distance between wheel mounting surfaces (wms) on the rear of my 1/2 is 62-1/4". It appears the Cherokee diff from 1999-2004 is 65". That won't work. It seems that from 1993-1998 the Cherokee wms was 60". I need to source an earlier diff than the 2002 I was going to buy.

They are and I thought I was going to be ok using wheel spacers because I thought the Cherokee wms was 60 and my truck is 62.25". Now it looks like it might be 65" so I may have some quick juggling to do in the morning with the salvage yard. wow, this is a lot of fun......NOT!

You and Merle are correct. The 2002 is 5x5. However it is also 2" narrower than the stock differential so I was figuring on using 5x5 to 5x4.5 wheel adapters. that are about 1" thick.

Well, in case you didn't catch the news, I'll be swapping out my stock diff for a 2002 Grand Cherokee diff with disc brakes and 3.73 gearing. I'll also make the swap to Charlie Aker's front disc brakes and a different master cylinder. I'll post pictures as I go as I modify the diff to fit under my truck. Tips and suggestions are welcome Brad

Ok, just agreed on a deal for a 3.73 2002 Grand Cherokee differential with disc brakes for $300. I pick it up later today or tomorrow morning. Time to put this little bump in the road behind me and move on with the rebuild of the truck. I'll update as I go on my build thread. Thanks all for the advice and encouragement Brad

Plan B it is...... Details to follow.

Here's another one. I think there are more. ? If these are cracks like I think they are then I'll be moving on to plan B which is swapping in a Cherokee differential.

Well CRAP.....are these what I think they are? ?

Whatever it was it washed away after pulling it out of the Evapo-rust bath and washed it down. This morning I set up a pair of saw horses and laid a pallet on top. I will say in January the water temperature out of the faucet is rather cold! I hosed down the inside and outside for about 45 minutes continuously while periodically moving the hose from place to place. Early on every time I moved the hose more junk would wash out but over time the amount that came out was less and less. Eventually I didn't see anything coming out. I kept at it for a few more minutes and then tilted it upright to let as much water drain as possible. I tried rotating the pinion shaft and it was definitely easier than it had been previously for sure. I then laid it on it's side again and discharged an entire 18 oz can of WD40 into the innards while rotating the pinion and moving the housing to various positions. Now it seems to rotate a little easier so it appears progress has been made. Previously when rotating the pinion shaft I would just grab the yoke by hand and try to twist it. I know for a fact due to my surgery I don't have the strength that I used to so having it seem hard to turn could be partially my fault. However, I then took a socket extension and placed it between the yoke tangs and it rotates relatively easy now. Is there a torque in inch pounds that it should take to rotate the pinion shaft?

You are of course going to set up a video camera with live feed of the window installation......aren't you......

I'm going to set aside the probable issue with the springs until a later date. That's a project that can take place even after it's on the road. If I don't start making progress with the rest of the truck I might as well park it for another 20 years! I'm back on the differential hoping to narrow down just what if anything I need to do......