very intresting cherokee Chief

A friend and i ran into an old XJ behind a an old warehouse. it's a 1984-1986 with a 2.8L v6 however it is the Cherokee Chief and it is fully loaded with power everything. it has the selec-trac transfer case. this is our first time ever seeing a selec trac transfer case like this it had the transfer-case shift lever like a command trac does but it had 3 settings hi,n,low. up top where the transmission shifter lever is, there is a horizontal toggle switch with 2 wheel and 4 wheel settings does this mean that you could put the transfer case into two low like on an atlas? also another extremely interesting thing was it had CV axles up front. The axle was in fact just a regular high pinion Dana 30 but it had CV shafts. we were amazed to see this on a Cherokee that has absolutely zero modifications. Were CV axles an option in those days or was it something only available on the Cherokee Chief? the Cherokee itself wasn't really much to look at clearcoats peeling hood has a significant amount of rust and rot as well as other parts of the truck do. surprisingly the floors are in great shape though but the roof is rotting as well... so if anyone can answer my questions about the transfer case and the CV shafts on the axle that would be great cause we are very interested about it

All normal stuff for those years. Available on other models. No big deal.

CV axles were common in those year XJs... they are pretty crummy.

A lot of the local backwoods mudder tards like to run autozone ZJ CV replacement shafts, too, because OMG THEY HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY AND WON'T RIP OUT BALLJOINTS WHEN THEY EXPLODE!!! :gee:

Yes, that would be a pretty standard pre-87 model. I believe the horizontal toggle was a vaccum actuator for the front axle, but I might be wrong. CV axles are also not out of the ordinary. Very weak compared to a regular u-joint, but I guess with 2.8L power, breaking them wasn't a huge concern... lol.

kastein said:

CV axles were common in those year XJs... they are pretty crummy.

A lot of the local backwoods mudder tards like to run autozone ZJ CV replacement shafts, too, because OMG THEY HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY AND WON'T RIP OUT BALLJOINTS WHEN THEY EXPLODE!!! :gee:

Click to expand...

Probably think they're cool cause they're running CV's... like the RCV CV shafts for the later model rubicon 44's! or the RCV dana 60 cv, wooo! Or a Toyota Birfield, wooooooo!

NotMatt said:

Yes, that would be a pretty standard pre-87 model. I believe the horizontal toggle was a vaccum actuator for the front axle, but I might be wrong. CV axles are also not out of the ordinary. Very weak compared to a regular u-joint, but I guess with 2.8L power, breaking them wasn't a huge concern... lol.

Click to expand...

Vacuum actuator for the transfer case. Lever was then used for H, N or L. Had to come to a complete stop to engage, just like the AMC eagle.

my 84 xj had an np207 case that had the same settings as an np231, but it had a CAD hp30 with the cv axles. i blew out a cv joint with the 2.5 and 32's within the first month of owning it. i really liked that jeep, though. i wish i had never sold it.

We got the 84, 2.5 L carbed XJ we bought about 10 weeks ago running. Now reading here, I am wondering about the front axle, and still not sure what manual Transmission it has.

Probably no help:

Manual Transmissions


AX4 - 4 speed manual - manufactured by Aisin - used 84-86 with 2.5L I4 and 2.8L V6 engines


T4 & T5 - 4 & 5 speed manual - manufactured by Borg Warner - used 84-86 with 2.5L I4 and 2.8L V6 engines


BA10/5 - 5 speed manual - manufactured by Peugot - used only up to 89


AX5 - 5 speed manual - manufactured by Aisin - used with 2.8L V6 and 87+ with 2.5L I4


AX15 - 5 speed manual - manufactured by Aisin - used with 4.0L I6 engines


NV3550 - 5 speed manual - manufactured by New Venture - used in 00-01 in SE models with 4.0L I6 engines

Novak 4x4 has T4 & T5 i.d. info on their website; if it isn't one of them it would have to be the AX4.

The manual is most likely either a Pukegoat or a AX5. My 85; had a AX-5 (lucky me )

I had a 86' Chief.
Awesome 2.8L GM V6
NP207
Auto (3 Spd TF999)
Axles were originally D30/D35 4.10:1 but the Original Owner swapped them for D30/D35 3.55 and kept the old ones for his newer project.
Tow package was standard.
Fancy paint job was standard.
Front axle was a standard CAD Axle with 260 joints.
By the time i bought it, the Rust was standard

I would like to see a picture of this mythical extra lever as it sounds as though the Xfer case has been modified.

The 84 we got had one tiny spot of rust. It seems it was garaged all the time. 147,xxx miles IIRC. We know the transmission was recently rebuilt before it was parked, and sold to us 4 years later. But the repair records were gone. So we have no idea what they really did. Could have been clutch work for all I know so far. Got maybe $200 in parts in it now, paid $450 for it. It was a steal. I think Ghost is salvaging some parts off his for us, like the carburetor, for spare parts.

nothing mythical about it....like cruiser posted, it is a switched vaccuum lever that operates the mode of the TC. The floor shifter then switches the range.





It fits in where the little "coin holder" piece is in the center console behind the trans shifter.

Jeff