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2wd to 4wd conversion

X

XJ230

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Tucson, AZ
I have a 94' 2wd XJ and would like to change it over to 4wd. I have never done this type of conversion and would like to know what all I would need to do it. I would also like to know any secrets that might make it go alot easier. Any reccomendations would be most helpful.
 
i'm definately not an expert in this area, but i can give you my honest opinion....buy a 4wd cherokee. especially if this isn't an area that you have experience in. my 4wd is a 5sp and i was looking at converting to an auto. almost all the advice was to just buy an auto cherokee. besides, unless you went junk yard hopp'n to get ALL the parts for the conversion, you'll wind up spending at least what you would spend on just flat out buying a 4wd cherokee. just my opinion though
 
Well junkyard-hopping is the plan for now. I mean come on i'm in the military i don't make that much. I just wander if anyone on here has done this before and if there are any major things i need to know about before i start when i get all the parts.
 
I converted my MJ last year...it's very doable. I kept costs down by planning it all out and gathering various parts over the course of a year or so (it used to be a DD until I started swapping in parts). All of my parts came either from the 'yard or swapping/selling the 2WD parts I took off. Short list of what you need:

*front axle with same R&P as rear, unless you are regearing
*transfercase with linkage assembly, shifter and bezel
*4WD transmission with matching output spline count/depth as TC
*rear and front driveshafts
*speedometer cable (if yours is cable driven), 2WD one will be too short

It's all bolt-on, no fab work. Just have a good place to work on it and a decent set of hand tools. A good set of jackstands and floorjack are needed, and a tranny jack helps if you don't want to kill yourself. You'll need an E12 inverted torx socket to remove the two top bellhousing bolts (along with several extensions), and a ratcheting 9/16" wrench will make tightening the TC mounting nuts a breeze.
Be safe and have fun!
Jeff
 
You don't have to do the whole thing at one shot, find a D30 with your same gear ratio and swap it in over a weekend. Then find the tranny and tc parts. When you get the front end also grab the driveshaft, both if possible. I'd find a donor vehicle, maybe one thats been rolled, of your same year that way you won't have to deal with spline counts and such. It is the little things that are the killer, linkages, panels, levers, etc. Ideally the best way is buy a whole donor vehicle and park it next to the one you are converting and work from there.
All the holes, tabs, mounts and such are there already on the frame, we were going to do my daughters boyfriends MJ a couple of years ago and had just started getting the parts when she broke up with him so we never got started beyond part collecting.
Jeff, why did you pull the bell housing ? why not just drop the old tranny and put the new tranny an tc in place, is there something different about the bellhousing or where you doing a clutch at the same time ?
 
RichP said:
Jeff, why did you pull the bell housing ? why not just drop the old tranny and put the new tranny an tc in place, is there something different about the bellhousing or where you doing a clutch at the same time ?
Click to expand...

AX5 trans, and I meant the bell-to-block bolts, not the bell-to-trans bolts. Ya hafta yank the whole tranny down with the bell attached (unless you know a secret?)

And yeah, I did a clutch/internal slave/pilot bearing/flywheel resurface/RMS job while I was there too. And new front brakes.....and rear brakes.....and brake lines, prop valve, master cylinder.....and exhaust....and......:)
Jeff (pic of old stuff before I redid it all)
AX5clutchandflywheel.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much for all the advice. I have had alot of people tell me just to buy a 4wd jeep, but I mean that Jeep is mine and I would feel so much better about making it better than throwing away a perfectly good jeep that has always been in my family. To me no matter what year or drive...XJ's ROCK!!!!!!! Any other would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm actually keeping my eye out for a cheap, decent 2WD XJ so I can convert it and have both an MJ and an XJ. Admittedly, I've got a couple real nice u-pull 'em yards here I get parts from which helps keep costs down :) I did my MJ for <$500 (YMMV), and alot of that was for non-4WD related stuff that just needed done to a 16 yr old truck that grew up in the salt and rust of southwest PA.
Hit me backchannel if you have any ???'s I can help ya with.
Jeff
 
Jeff's on the money with his input. I converted my 94 to 4WD about 4 years ago with parts from my rolled 88.

Only thing i needed that's not on his list was a Throttle Kickdown cable (94's) to the 88 AW4, HO engine cables are longer.
 
You might want to get in contact with Jvracer. He's sometimes on this forum, but he converted his 89 to a 4wd, and he had never done any major work on his jeep before. And like everyone is saying, you don't have to get everything at once. It's a pretty simple task as I've been told, so don't worry about selling your jeep.
 
xjj33p3r said:
You might want to get in contact with Jvracer. He's sometimes on this forum, but he converted his 89 to a 4wd, and he had never done any major work on his jeep before. And like everyone is saying, you don't have to get everything at once. It's a pretty simple task as I've been told, so don't worry about selling your jeep.
Click to expand...

simple...
I think that might be a tad understated

not sure about him but when I was inthe military I didnt have access to all the tools needed to this..kinda hard to fit all my tools in a duffle bag..
and the guys at the on post garage shop were a holes ..
 
literally just did this conversion on my 2000 2 months ago..total cost of the swap...was like 700 bucks....too easy...( and i had trouble)..the: "buy a new jeep" routine is bull...i saved 3 grand by not getting the 4x4 xj that was sitting next to mine on the lot...picked up the 2x4 and saved the cash for all my other lil goodies..heres my price list...

99 low milage HP D30 w brakes/ gears that match.....$99(local).
231 J froma 2001 xj low milage again..$250(bought here)
2000 Aw4 with 5000 miles and a broken oil pump(my big problem) $220.
driveshafts...$65 for both
plus new ujoints and brake pads...

took some time but well worth the experience....never done anything like that either...if you need help shoot me a pm....

Maier
 
Well at least I don't have to worry about that. The auto hobby shop we have on base is bad ass. The guys that work there are definately top notch. They also have one of the best equiped garages I have seen with every tool, lift, welder, etc. you name it they got it.
 
I also did the conversion, and I gotta say that it was a lot easier than most people think. Some of the more optimistic guys from this board were extremely helpful. Jeff in VA was a great help when I was researching about the build (hey Jeff!), and motivated me to go ahead with the project.
It's easy for people to say--sell it and buy a fwd. But, my then 2wd had only 89K, and was very well maintained. I couldn't just sell her, so I made her. She's a modest rig, but I didn't just build it...I made it. Check it out at
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/719231
I don't have any real before and after pics, but there is a pic there of both the AW4 transmissions, side by side.
If you need any advice, feel free to email or PM me. Good luck!
john
 
Nice pictures but when you click on the "enlarge picture", it doesn't enlarge your picture, it brings up a pop-up ad..................................

earthtiger said:
I also did the conversion, and I gotta say that it was a lot easier than most people think. Some of the more optimistic guys from this board were extremely helpful. Jeff in VA was a great help when I was researching about the build (hey Jeff!), and motivated me to go ahead with the project.
It's easy for people to say--sell it and buy a fwd. But, my then 2wd had only 89K, and was very well maintained. I couldn't just sell her, so I made her. She's a modest rig, but I didn't just build it...I made it. Check it out at
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/719231
I don't have any real before and after pics, but there is a pic there of both the AW4 transmissions, side by side.
If you need any advice, feel free to email or PM me. Good luck!
john
Click to expand...
 
I am also converting my '88 MJ to 4WD. My conversion is a bit more involved as I have a NV3550 swapped in and am planning a Dana 300. I think the main cost is the tranny itself. If your is a manual, then think about upgrading the tranny to external slave cylinder. Although that might have happened in 94. Car-Parts.com is a good resource for parts, this and other Jeep boards, and watch E-Bay. Sometimes E-Bay does good. But always watch out for shipping. Check for U-Pull Yards out by you. Not any around by me, bummer.
Tom
 
JnJ said:
Nice pictures but when you click on the "enlarge picture", it doesn't enlarge your picture, it brings up a pop-up ad..................................
Click to expand...

I just checked it out, and on my computer, they enlarge when I click on 'em.
I know on one of the other boards, they were saying that cardomain was having problems.
 
Well I started looking for a D30 I guess my XJ stock for the rear D35 has 3.55 gears? Does anyone near the Tucson area have D30 they are willing to part with?
 
I will have a non-disco, high-pinion dana 30 with 760 joints and 3.55 gears available in two weeks in Phoenix.
 
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