Junkyard Upgrades?

[Alpine Warthog]

One thing I miss about wrenching when I was a kid, was all of the junkyard upgrades available for my various rides. I put a ford 8.8 rear axle in my XJ. I swapped a '74 307 small block and a Posi rear end into my 85 El Camino. and the list goes on...Guys are putting Cadillac ATS brake calipers on Mustangs even
So what kinds of upgrades are out there for Gladiators? I'd love to upgrade brakes if anyone has ideas for that.

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[wildtaco]

One thing I miss about wrenching when I was a kid, was all of the junkyard upgrades available for my various rides. I put a ford 8.8 rear axle in my XJ. I swapped a '74 307 small block and a Posi rear end into my 85 El Camino. and the list goes on...Guys are putting Cadillac ATS brake calipers on Mustangs even
So what kinds of upgrades are out there for Gladiators? I'd love to upgrade brakes if anyone has ideas for that.

Just spitballing here, but I remember reading somewhere that RAM calipers fit? That might have been on the JK platform though.

 

[DankjeeP]

D60?

 

[Zachanadandy]

D60?

Good luck finding one that would work with the abs.

 

[Rusty PW]

D60?

2005 and up 3rd, 4th and 5th Gen Ram 2500 and up use the AAM 9.25 in the front and either the AAM 10.5 or the 11.5 in the rear. No Dana's.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

05+ Superduty axles.

 

[DankjeeP]

2005 and up 3rd, 4th and 5th Gen Ram 2500 and up use the AAM 9.25 in the front and either the AAM 10.5 or the 11.5 in the rear. No Dana's.

Good point. That would be a little better than D44's probably.

 

[Jteakus]

Wheel speed sensors are the big hang up.

 

[Janster]

Upgrading - back then - was much easier. These new vehicles are too dependent on computers & sensors.

Ahh fond memories……
We swapped axles under the YJ (92/94). Dana 44’s from a 1989 Grand Wagoneer. We also put a rear disc brake kit on it with a Master & Proportioning valve from a Grand Marquis.

There’s probably a lot more things you could ’theoretically’ swap - but not a lot (or any) people willing to try it. It’s hard to spend $ on something that you don’t know will even work (or cost even more $ to make it work).

Granted… there are those folks who totally overhaul them or do major changes cuz they have all the tools, resources, and knowledge to do it.

 

[Greg_L]

Upgrading - back then - was much easier. These new vehicles are too dependent on computers & sensors.

This ^^^^^^

Not only do you need wrenching skills, you need to be able to write code too.


Being new to the Jeep world, one thing I do love about the "genre", if you will, is the overflowing availability of swap/aftermarket parts. Coming from a hot rod/racing background it reminds me of the tried and true small block Chevy. It's simple and relatively affordable to build up a nice ride with the aftermarket. It's so simple in fact it's better to just go that route than crawl around junkyards rigging things to work...unless of course that's just what you get off on doing. I dig that too.

 

[NVjeff]

I've always been a fan of junkyard upgrades vs. buying custom aftermarket assemblies.

Somewhere on this forum I saw a thread about swapping Ford Super Duty axles under a JT.
I believe aftermarket tone rings were used to get the ABS/traction control to work.
I don't remember which sensors were used and I don't remember if the project was finished.

 

[TheSolarWizard]

I've always been a fan of junkyard upgrades vs. buying custom aftermarket assemblies.

Somewhere on this forum I saw a thread about swapping Ford Super Duty axles under a JT.
I believe aftermarket tone rings were used to get the ABS/traction control to work.
I don't remember which sensors were used and I don't remember if the project was finished.

It can be done but it changes the way the abs modulation works. When I discovered that plus the effective price difference of ~ $5k after labor rehabbing a 60/sterling combo plus the weight gain and clearance loss plus still having a balljoint style front, going with the Fusions was a much easier pill to swallow

 

[Jteakus]

Two of my jeepin pals built their own sets of tons. Both said if to do over they would purchase bolt in sets.

 

[Supazuk]

Good luck finding one that would work with the abs.

super duty 60's

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

Another big issue, at least in my mind, is that this isn't like going to a junkyard today and taking parts off a 90's era *insert vehicle* and swapping onto my 80's, 90's, or even early 2000's era vehicle. This is a truck that is at most 5 years old and any part you got would be older than what is in there to begin with and that just doesn't really make sense to do.

Now, give it 10-15 years when maybe an occasionally wrecked rig from 2025+ makes it into your local picking yard and you could probably find something that would make sense to pull and try to use.

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