which T-case is better???

i'm thinking about buying a new jeep and they seemed to have changed the t cases in them, in 1996 jeep to 2001.

96 was the first year of the 297 u-joints in the front d30.
The part time NP 231 'CommandTrac' came with the vacuum disconnect front D30 while the selectable full time NP 242 'SelecTrac' came with a solid D30. Although the 242 is an excellent t-case it has more bits, is heavier, and is not useful in 'Full Time' once you have a front locker.

i don't plan on haveing a locker in it since i do not do stuff that requires one.
so is 96 the way to go? or should i go 95 and older?? i know 96 and newer get bad vibes cuz of the Sye and stuff is on the inside of the tcase not on the outside.
so whats do you guys think????????????

First of all the 231 eventually came with a solid non disco axle too, my 94 has that. THe question of comparing a 231 to 242 is dangerous..lol

Some will say the 231 is better bc it offers much more accesories and part while the 242 has less parts available and upgrades. Some really love the full time option and thus really like the 242.

The advantage of getting a 95+ or older is bc of the tail sections of the tcase. If you plan on putting on a SYE on then i dont think it will make a difference either way.

Others will hopefully correct me if i am wrong.

pete

jeepsrock said:

First of all the 231 eventually came with a solid non disco axle too, my 94 has that. THe question of comparing a 231 to 242 is dangerous..lol

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Yep. My first thought on seeing this was, 'oh God, here we go again'

Some will say the 231 is better bc it offers much more accesories and part while the 242 has less parts available and upgrades. Some really love the full time option and thus really like the 242.

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I've had both and far prefer the 242. Having what's essentially an AWD mode in 4FT adds flexibility that the 231 is (IMHO) lacking. Not that there's anything wrong with a 231 - but having the full-time mode in the recent rains helped on-road handling and works well in moderate sand and snow.

The downside to a 242: the 231 cases are rated to take higher torque outputs than the 242 (approx. 2000lb/ft vs. 1400lb/ft respectively) - though it sounds as though hittinghard will never be approaching those limits from how he's describing his intended use. FWIW, the 242 case in the XJ (techincally designated 242J) is essentially the same as the one used in Humvees (242HD AMG, IIRC) minus heavier-duty chains and an integral case fluid cooler.

The advantage of getting a 95+ or older is bc of the tail sections of the tcase. If you plan on putting on a SYE on then i dont think it will make a difference either way.

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And remember that any XJ will get vibes once it's lifted past a certain point. Newer 242s will tend to do it sooner than older ones, but it's really specific to each individual vehicle as to when it will or won't happen.