2wd to 4wd - Should I do it?

Iwannagofishin · Mar 13, 2012

Here's my situation:
I have a 95, 4.0L HO, Auto, 2wd with a Chrysler 8.25 rear end. 3.55 gears. 170K miles

My brother is getting rid of a 91, 4.0L renix, Auto, 4wd with a NP242, Dana 30 in frt, Chrysler 8.25 rear and 3.55 gears. The transfer case is a little hard to shift, but probably just needs to be adjusted. 254K miles. The running gear is fine, but everything else is a POS.

I want to make the 95 a 4wd. I've confirmed that he has everything I will need. And I'm pretty sure I can handle swapping out the Frt axle and both drive shafts. But the Tranny and Transfer Case are making me nervous. I've just never done it.

Also, I don't want to use his 254K miles transmission. (Although it works fine right now.) How hard is it to change out the tail pieces?

Any advice? Am I forgetting anything?

Porch951 · Mar 13, 2012

Mine originally started out as 2wd, but my transmission blew up 18 days after i bought it. Turned out that tracking down a good 2wd transmission was harder than putting in a 4wd transmission + transfer case + axle. I say go for it!
In fact, i think i did a writeup on it if you search under my name (when i did it, all the searches turned up nothing but "this has been discussed before...").

I don't know how much work it is to swap the output shaft of the transmission, but i'm sure that's the way to go.

Anyways, good luck with it! It's pretty easy, and worth doing, as long as you are capable of doing it yourself.

Johnnie Walker · Mar 13, 2012

As far as 4wd swap, it will be much easier to just find used 4wd aw4, possibly even a aw4/t-case. Sell what you have if you don't want to use it and get one that has lower miles?

H8PVMT · Mar 13, 2012

Not worth the time and effort to swap the tails, you can get a somewhat low mile aw4 for cheap, even tcases aren't that expensive

Tacedaddy · Mar 13, 2012

or just throw in the high mileage transmission and call it done, if he hasnt wheeled it hard or towed anything with it.

Iwannagofishin · Mar 13, 2012

H8PVMT said:
Not worth the time and effort to swap the tails, you can get a somewhat low mile aw4 for cheap, even tcases aren't that expensive

Yeah, an AW4 in my area is running about $300 from the bone yard. I wonder what a re-build would cost me?

xj_maniac_newb · Mar 13, 2012

I'd go for it. If i didnt have such a hard combination of parts to find i would have already done mine. Also keeping the 2wd insurance is a nice plus, especially if you have a driving record like mine

kastein · Mar 13, 2012

Go for it. All his parts should bolt in. You may not get the 4wd bulb on the dash working without adding some wiring but frankly, who cares? If you can't tell it is in 4wd you shouldn't be messing with that lever :spin1:

You will want to swap his rear ds over with the rest of the stuff, it is the right length. The only tools you may want are a 15mm flexhead gearwrench for the flexplate bolts and the e12 socket for the upper bellhousing bolts... oh and a 6 point 5/16 box wrench for driveshaft and ujoint strap bolts.

I believe you may need to use the brake calipers off his front axle since 92.5 or so and earlier 2wd ones are different. You should probably replace the rubber lines at the same time.

N8N_99xj · Mar 13, 2012

jealous... really want a 242 for my heep for snow driving. I don't have any opinion on your transmission issue however - kinda rolling the dice putting in a higher mile transmixer, but it's "probably" OK.

Nother wrinkle - before you commit, make sure that the speedo drive will work in your vehicle, and also it would be good to know whether the TC has 21 or 23 splines on the input shaft.

kastein · Mar 13, 2012

It will work. I have a 91 speedo sender bolted into the 231 out of a 99 on my 91 MJ.

TC will have 23 splines, all 91s had that... actually there is no such thing as a 91 renix. It's either a 90 renix (and might have 21 splines) or a 91 HO.

Iwannagofishin · Mar 13, 2012

kastein said:
It will work. I have a 91 speedo sender bolted into the 231 out of a 99 on my 91 MJ.

TC will have 23 splines, all 91s had that... actually there is no such thing as a 91 renix. It's either a 90 renix (and might have 21 splines) or a 91 HO.

Thanks kastein. I'll check on the motor and splines.

jeeperjohn · Mar 13, 2012

Do it dude, you won't regret it!

tone · Mar 13, 2012

I did it on my 97, everything is plug and play. I picked everything up on craigslist aw4/231/d30 for about $750 best mod I've done...

Iwannagofishin · Mar 14, 2012

thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Pretty sure I'm going to do this. I'll keep you posted.

2wd to 4wd - Should I do it?

Iwannagofishin

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Porch951

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Johnnie Walker

Piece of Fish!

H8PVMT

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Tacedaddy

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Iwannagofishin

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xj_maniac_newb

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kastein

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N8N_99xj

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kastein

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Iwannagofishin

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jeeperjohn

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tone

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Iwannagofishin

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