Axel questions. What kind do I have?

OK, I just got my XJ. It's a 2000 Limited, 4 door, 4.0. Isn't there a sticker on there some where that tells me what kind of axels I have and what kind of transfer case I have, etc.

I am looking at an RE lift and I need this info for ordering.

Thanks for the help.

Chris

Alright. get under the jeep and look at the transfer case. On the back of the case is a tag this will have 231 or 242. Now if your shifter has a 2h-4h-n-4l on it it's 231. If it has 2h-4h-Full Time 4-n-4l than it's a 242 Select Trac. As for the axles. Check out ring-pinion.com or drivetraindirect.com

Most any site has pics of the rear. I would guess that its a 8.25, but could be a Dana 35. If it's a D35 it should have a D35 cast into the pumkin by the cover plate. Juice

Thanks Juice. Great info.

Topher

if its a chrysler, it will have a chrysler five diamond pentagon forged into the pumpkin somewhere. up front you have a dana 30, incase you were asking about that also

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you DO NOT have anti lock breaks, then you have the 8.25, If you do have anti lock breaks then you have the 35. Isn' that right?

I just read somewhere where someone said they had ABS on a 8.25. Now that was on ilovejeeps.com, so who knows. But I have always heard D35 = ABS 8.25 = Nothing. Juice

abs

My 98 doesn't have abs and has d 35, has dana 35c stamped on the axle, wish it was the 8.25.

Which transfer case is better the 231 or the 242?

Chris

No ABS and I do have th Dana 35.

cguthrie said:

Which transfer case is better the 231 or the 242?

Chris

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In the greater scheme of things, neither one is better than the other. There has been talk that one has a larger diameter output shaft making it stronger but unless you are running big tires and playing in the rocks, it shouldn't matter.

I prefer the 231 in my trail rig but would want a 242 if it were a daily driver also. Mainly for the snow.

speaking of a dana thirty... i have a '93 cherokee country w/ d30, d35, and 242tc. my question is whether the d30s have diferent size axle shafts. not spline counts but dia. i broke a u-joint, which in turn broke the ear off the in short shaft. had an extra d30 sitting around out of a '93 cherokee sport. compared the two.... d30 in the country had a bigger dia. then the one in the d30 in the sport. both were 27 spline. i was wondering whether this was an aftermarket shaft? any help would be appreciated..

you should have 29 spline 8.25

juicexj24 said:

I just read somewhere where someone said they had ABS on a 8.25. Now that was on ilovejeeps.com, so who knows.

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ILJ has discussed it and it's come up here a few times too. There is always going to be someone who says they have ABS and a C8.25, but when it comes time to prove it they always come up short. After the C8.25 was intro'd to the XJ line in 1991 it was: D35=ABS, C8.25=no ABS. Since the original poster has a 2000, that would hold true. Before 1991, the D35 was used with and without ABS - I mention that just in case some newbie searches and comes up with this thread...

Want pics of your axles to compare them? Go to http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/history.html#axles or http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/gear1.html#axle The hint to look at the trademark logo on the cover is a good one by the way. Dana uses a diamond, while Chrysler has the infamous pentastar thingy.

Edit: On the C8.25", if the model is a 91-late 96 it will have the 27-spline, c-clipped axleshafts. Beginning in very late model year 1996, the axleshafts were upgraded to a stronger 29-spline c-clipped unit.

juicexj24 said:

... Now if your shifter has a 2h-4h-n-4l on it it's 231. If it has 2h-4h-Full Time 4-n-4l than it's a 242 Select Trac. ...

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Would it be possible for someone to give me a basic understanding of the 231's 4HI selection? I tested the 4wd out today (just got the Jeep yesterday) and I was greeted with a "part-time" light in the dash. I was expecting to see "4 HI" or something to that effect. When i saw part time i took it to mean that it was acting more as a traction control system (applies power to front when needed). Did i interpret this incorrectly? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

John

I just emailed back and forth with a TJ guy about this yesterday:

“Part-Time” and “Full-time” are marketing terms. Your case is an NP231 Command-Trac Part-Time case. Like I said earlier, the front and rear shafts are locked together when you’re in 4-wheel drive. The other case that’s commonly used with the Cherokee (but not the Wrangler as far as I know) is the NP242 Selec-Trac Full-Time case. Instead of mechanically locking the front and rear together, it uses a viscous coupling to hold the front and rear, allowing you to drive *full-time* on any road surface without doing damage to the transfer case. The downside to that case is that the viscous coupler adds complexity and breaks more easily than the solid linkage offered with the NP231. Remember that the NP231 is considered *part-time* - that’s to remind you not to drive in 4wd on the road all the time. That’s a quick way to break something.

With the NP231 since you are turning the front and rear driveshafts, if you want to make sure all four wheels are turning together without slippage you need to put lockers in the differentials. To answer your other question about the lights on your dash, I’m pretty sure you just have one 4wd indicator and not anything indicating Hi or Lo range. That’s why you only see the one light on the dash.

Cool....that's exactly what i was looking for. When the part-time light came on i was thinking all wheel drive . I'm familiar with operating a 4wd...the part-time terminology just threw me for a loop. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

John

Would that I did - I just gave you a cut-n-paste from that email. Glad it at least helped someone because I think he's still not getting it.

isnt there a website where you can put in your vin number and it'll tell you what you have for axles?

haynes - the build sheet from the dealer is wildly inaccurate in many cases and just gets worse the older your vehicle is. Just crawl underneath and compare yours to http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/gear1.html#axle

Yucca-Man said:

Instead of mechanically locking the front and rear together, it uses a viscous coupling to hold the front and rear, allowing you to drive *full-time* on any road surface without doing damage to the transfer case. The downside to that case is that the viscous coupler adds complexity and breaks more easily than the solid linkage offered with the NP231.

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242 does not use viscous coupling, it uses a mechanical differential in the TC. the 249 on the grand cherokees use viscous coupling