Question about a 242

So i have an 01 XJ with some issues....so play along here as i've swapped out the stock axles way back when, my question is, if i had say 3.55 gears in the rear and 3.73 up front, would i notice anything in 2wd or would the case "make up" the difference and allow for some slop so it'd drive normal in 2wd. Thanks that is all

it would drive normal in 2wd

Interesting....well here's the reason i ask.

I put the xj in 4wd the other day and it took FOREVER to get it to come back out. Multiple stop, back up, go forward, neutral, do it all over again and after about 20 minutes of this game driving around town, it finally came out. Besides that problem, in 4wd the thing was vibrating like crazy and felt as though it was trying to pull me in one direction or the other. On top of that, coming to a stop, it would almost stop it self as if something was binding or dragging really hard. Even sitting on a downhill slop with the tranny in Drive it would not move forward with out throttle.
It's a 2001 XJ with an 8.25 rear, with an auburn, a rebuilt dana 30 front with new EVERYTHING, and the front driveshaft was just shortned and balanced 4 weeks ago. My initial thought is if it's the driveshaft it'd vibe all the time but at 80mph down the interstate in 2wd it's fine. I know last winter the pinion bearing seized up on the thing and it acted in a similar fashion driving over vail pass before it smoked the housing and sized the pinion entirely. But like i said Outpost 4x4 just completely rebuilt and set up this axle, so i'm doubting that....i'm kinda thinking it's the 242 case which has led a ROUGH life as a previous wheeler, and the fact it won't go in and out of 4wd easily points me there, but i'm wondering how that'll cause the heavy vibes and/or pulling

Now i don't want to hear "8.25's only came with 3.55 or 4.10's" etc... because i purchased BOTH axles used, i'm 100% certain the front is 3.73, but was told by the person i got the 8.25 from that it had 3.73's. I'm starting to wonder now, and this was over 2 years ago but i've only engaged 4wd on the interstate once and it grenaded the front end after approx 30 miles.

sounds like different ratios, never drive on a solid surface or you'll grenade th e t-case next. even with same ratios itll take a bit to come out of 4wd.


you should jack it up and check

well, once it's in 2wd it will drive fine...however, in my experience, the 242 can be a little finicky to get back in 2wd from 4wd if the tire PSI is off, which would also give you problems if the gears were different front to back

If I understand your initial question correctly, you'd be fine in 2wd (since the fronts are in essence free-wheeling in 2wd), but unless your axle ratios are the same front and back, you're going to have a heck of a bind problem in either full-time or part-time 4wd. I'd validate the axle ratios and make sure they're the same front and back.

well i'm going to jack it up tonight and "eyeball" it by spinning the tire one full revolution and measuring how many times the driveshaft turns....sounds like it's the wrong ratio though

i have a 90 with the 242 and 35's and since i put the 35's on the t-case has been a lil hard to get back in 2wd but i found that if you take it out of 4wd and before you put it in drive, put it in reverse and then drive the light will go out and it will be in 2wd.. i really dont get it because the selection lever im thinking would be a manual system? or it could be ran by the same dilly-o as the transmission? im not sure could someone back me up on this? ( sry not tryin to hijack thread just tryin to get u and i more info)

Well put the rear up in the air spun the tires...Sweet some A$$ clown from the board sold me an xj 8.25 with 3.55's yet posted it as 3.73's, told me via email it was 3.73's and then told my dad in person when he picked it up it was 3.73's So now i've dumped $350 into a TJ dana 30 a year ago since my 3.55 dana 30 wouldn't work, blew the ring and pinion out of that, and then started over with ANOTHER axle that i rebuilt from scratch costing me $400+ all to find out i've got the wrong fawking gear ratio......I'm going to go have a beer or 5

Fromwhat my Dad has experiance over the past 13 years with Selec-Trac XJ's is that just a little tire pressure difference can cause problems like this and you shouldn't even try full time inless you have little traction (basicly treat it like part time 4wd) or get both ends geared the same. FInding a slick surface like wet grass, gravel, snow, and mud then punching it enough to get wheel spin would help full time to disengage or if push comes to shove, jacking up one of the front tires should help too. The latter would even help with part timers that are stuck, although I had a hard time convincing the co worker that thought the sand in that pic in off topic was carpet that that was why his Exploder hubs were disengaged when he took them apart to see why the truck got stuck in part time.

Ok, so does the 231 do the same thing?? I only ask because my 242 acts up every now and again. It has to be my biggest complaint about my XJ, how finicky it is to get into and out of 4wd.

Mercenary said:

Ok, so does the 231 do the same thing?? I only ask because my 242 acts up every now and again. It has to be my biggest complaint about my XJ, how finicky it is to get into and out of 4wd.

Click to expand...

Worse

I've never had to fiddle with my NP231 for more than 2 minutes to get it in or out of whatever mode I wanted to, and that's also always been on pavement. (Haven't had it off road yet.)