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Winter driveshaft removal

R

Rod Knee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Grand Jct., CO
I have a question for you guys with the 231 tcase that live in ice and snow country where alternating stretches of slick and dry highway make the 242 with the full time 4x4 option advantagous. Do you ever remove the rear driveshaft for most of the winter and just run FWD using part time high? Seems like this would be a good practice especially for those with an auto locker in the rear.

I have the 242 in my XJ, but wondering if this is feasible because I'm thinking about buying a Wrangler TJ which is not a very good winter vehicle with its short wheelbase.
 
Uh, that's a great big heck no.

I've driven my 94 XJ with a 231 for a few hundred miles on dry roads in the summer without a rear driveshaft. Due to the standard u-joints in the steering knuckles, getting on the power in corners throws a cosine wave into the RPMs at the front wheel. The effect is that it can bunny-hop left & right in a very unpleasant manner.
 
i dont quite follow what you are trying to accomplish here. you want less traction in the snow?

autolockers arent death in the snow.
 
I hardly ever put it in 4wd in the snow and mine isn't locked.
 
Rod Knee said:
I have the 242 in my XJ, but wondering if this is feasible because I'm thinking about buying a Wrangler TJ which is not a very good winter vehicle with its short wheelbase.
Click to expand...

This may be a dumb question, but is there anything that would make swapping a 242 into a TJ impractical? I know it's been done before, but I just don't know the specifics of the swap.
 
im not sure if the t-case is clocked differently, or the transmissions. but its one or the other.

might run into clearance issues by just bolting it up, but you can get/make clocking rings or possibly redrill the tailhousing on the tj transmission
 
Rod Knee said:
I have a question for you guys with the 231 tcase that live in ice and snow country where alternating stretches of slick and dry highway make the 242 with the full time 4x4 option advantagous. Do you ever remove the rear driveshaft for most of the winter and just run FWD using part time high? Seems like this would be a good practice especially for those with an auto locker in the rear.

I have the 242 in my XJ, but wondering if this is feasible because I'm thinking about buying a Wrangler TJ which is not a very good winter vehicle with its short wheelbase.
Click to expand...

It's not recommended to remove the rear shaft and run it in FWD for long periods of time. It can stretch the chain. I been running a 231 in both TJ and XJ for 9 years through lots of snow, little snow, ice, and everything winter can throw at you. I never wished I had or considered Full Time 4wd. IMO, if it comes with it, it's nice to have, but not worth swapping a 231 for it.
 
Good tires is the best you can do. Goodyear Duratracs are awesome in the snow. I just went from a 242 to a 231 and picked up new tires. Locked in the rear, snow and ice wont stop me in 2wd right now with these tires. Old set of coopers wouldnt get me nowhere.
 
1990JEEPXJ said:
and if you dont have an SYE youll lose a lot of your t-case fluid pretty quick...
Click to expand...

Not if it is a '96+, when the tail cone sealed on the output shaft, and t-case changed to an external slip yoke.


But I too wonder why you would want to remove the rear driveshaft for the snow, and decrease your driveablilty. I've driven FWD vehicles in heavy snow before, and I don't think there is anything special, they suck just as much as RWD. That is not really logical to remove the shaft. The good practice would be to just push the lever down back into 2wd when you get to a dry patch, the shift on the fly ability is the great thing about Jeeps.

Also, I've never had any problems driving my father's TJ in the snow.
 
Agreed... I actually prefer rear wheel drive over front wheel drive in the snow.

I just pop the 231 back into 2hi when I get to a dry patch. Problem solved.
 
Auto Lockers and Limited Slip behave in exactly the same manner on snow/icy roads. Limited Slip has been a factory installed option in all Jeeps for many, many years.

With the NP231 you shift on the fly into and out of 4x4 as needed. With good all season tires I seldom need 4x4, and having a rear locker that replaced a factory installed Limited Slip, I don't use 4x4 very often.

Why would I remove the rear drives shaft, there is no benefit.


It's the short wheelbase that is the problem, not the 4x4 system.
 
Last edited:
ktm racer 419 said:
i dont quite follow what you are trying to accomplish here. you want less traction in the snow?

autolockers arent death in the snow.
Click to expand...


My concern is stability on the numerous short stretches of packed snow and ice that often come up suddenly in the Upper Midwest. Driving on I94 across Minnesota last November there were numerous stretches of black ice that were visually indistuishable from the rest of the road. There were also alot of vehicles in the ditch, but I sailed on through. Maybe I've gotten spoiled with the 242, but for me there is a world of difference between having and not having FT4WD.

My perception has always been that any driving at all on hard surfaces in PT4WD is to be absolutely avoided. From reading the replies to my question, perhaps I've been more concerned than I needed to be.
 
91to99 said:
Good tires is the best you can do. Goodyear Duratracs are awesome in the snow. I just went from a 242 to a 231 and picked up new tires. Locked in the rear, snow and ice wont stop me in 2wd right now with these tires. Old set of coopers wouldnt get me nowhere.
Click to expand...

Haha, and grammar skills like that will also get you nowhere. :twak:
 
My jeep isn't worth crap in 2wd in the snow(even in Oklahoma snow) even with the locker. I can only imagine the problem would be just as bad if it were front wheel drive only. I imagine its due to the wider tires being hard to push through the snow, same problem would be there with the rear tires if it didn't have a rear shaft.

Since the OP has a 242 he probably doesn't realize how easy the 231 shifts from 2ed to 4wd. Its just as easy as shifting the AW4. Now if you have BFG M/Ts and they have all been warrantied at different times due to sidewall cuts then its a little more tough to shift but you get pretty good at the throttle throttle swerve swerve needed to get it to come out of 4wd :D.
 
ChiXJeff said:
Due to the standard u-joints in the steering knuckles, getting on the power in corners throws a cosine wave into the RPMs at the front wheel. The effect is that it can bunny-hop left & right in a very unpleasant manner.
Click to expand...

This is the answer. If you've ever driven with just the front shaft, it's squirrely under power while turning or on uneven pavement, even when dry.
 
Front wheel drive (compared to RWD) is only better in snow if you don't know how to drive.
 
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