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Was it a mistake to swap my 242 for a 231 transfer case?

jeeperguy21

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Syracuse, UT
Last summer when I was putting on my lift, I decided to buy a NP231 transfer case and put in a heavy duty slip yoke eliminator kit. The reason I did this was to make my transfer case as strong as I could using a stock transfer case, and at the time, I thought that the hack-and-tap SYE for the NP242 was kind of a lame option.

Now that it's winter and I'm using my 4 wheel drive on the road on a somewhat regular basis, I miss my full time 4-wheel drive option. Was the added strength of the thicker output shaft really worth it, or would it have been better to have just stuck with my NP242? Let's hear your thoughts about this...
 
My thought are..how many snow days do you use the options that the 242 offered verses how many days a year you wheel. If your wheelin days out number your snow days...then you made the right choice to swap to the 231 in my opinion.

OUT-
 
If you don't have forced induction, nitrous or 5+ liters of hot-rod engine, 242 is the better case. You have more than enough strength for anything a 4.0 or even a 5.0 stroker can throw in a 242 and far superior snowy / mixed traction performance. If you don't need / want 4:1 low range or 2low or a 1000 HP rated tcase, 242 is the way to go.
Somebody correct me if I'm factually wrong somewhere... I'd love to be happier with my 231
 
XJ&TJ4ME said:
My thought are..how many snow days do you use the options that the 242 offered verses how many days a year you wheel. If your wheelin days out number your snow days...then you made the right choice to swap to the 231 in my opinion.

OUT-

sums it up pretty well, except that even the 242 is plenty strong for most applications. Should be able to handle the wheeling that most will throw at it..and still have the great full-time function.
 
yossarian19 said:
If you don't have forced induction, nitrous or 5+ liters of hot-rod engine, 242 is the better case. You have more than enough strength for anything a 4.0 or even a 5.0 stroker can throw in a 242 and far superior snowy / mixed traction performance. If you don't need / want 4:1 low range or 2low or a 1000 HP rated tcase, 242 is the way to go.
Somebody correct me if I'm factually wrong somewhere... I'd love to be happier with my 231

I don't know what snow is, so I'm more than happy with my 231. SYE going on it soon.
 
jeeperguy21 said:
Last summer when I was putting on my lift, I decided to buy a NP231 transfer case and put in a heavy duty slip yoke eliminator kit. The reason I did this was to make my transfer case as strong as I could using a stock transfer case, and at the time, I thought that the hack-and-tap SYE for the NP242 was kind of a lame option.

Now that it's winter and I'm using my 4 wheel drive on the road on a somewhat regular basis, I miss my full time 4-wheel drive option. Was the added strength of the thicker output shaft really worth it, or would it have been better to have just stuck with my NP242? Let's hear your thoughts about this...

they're both good cases, i just hacked and tapped the 242 on my xj with the re h&t, i've had it on the trail about 5 times since the build and i was happy with it. with that said its also my dd and it sees alot of snowy road time, its nice being able to select full time and just go.

on the other hand i have a yj with a 231 that sees plenty more trail time and less road time, its not much of a p.i.t.a on the street, and as long as you treat it right you cant go wrong.
 
I love my 242, but would not have much problem living with a 231, either. I feel much better when I have to let me wife use the Jeep in the winter--she's not big on knowing when and when not to use Part time--this way I can just leave it in FT and not worry about it. I will admit that having it in FT reduces the puck factor a bit when you run into the unxpected patch of snow.
 
yossarian19 said:
If you don't have forced induction, nitrous or 5+ liters of hot-rod engine, 242 is the better case. You have more than enough strength for anything a 4.0 or even a 5.0 stroker can throw in a 242 and far superior snowy / mixed traction performance. If you don't need / want 4:1 low range or 2low or a 1000 HP rated tcase, 242 is the way to go.
Somebody correct me if I'm factually wrong somewhere... I'd love to be happier with my 231

I disagree.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4OFfdB5EqvA
Stock motor, 4.56 gears in the axles
broken output shaft. Remarkably it broke exactly where a fellow wheeler said it would be broke, because his 242 behind a stock motor broke in the exact same place, right where the speedo gear mates to the shaft.
 
yossarian19 said:
If you don't have forced induction, nitrous or 5+ liters of hot-rod engine, 242 is the better case. You have more than enough strength for anything a 4.0 or even a 5.0 stroker can throw in a 242 and far superior snowy / mixed traction performance. If you don't need / want 4:1 low range or 2low or a 1000 HP rated tcase, 242 is the way to go.
Somebody correct me if I'm factually wrong somewhere... I'd love to be happier with my 231

Yeah, gotta disagree with this, too. I've seen too many broken output shafts, on both 231 and 242 t-cases, on rigs with stock motors. The motor has little to do with it, it just takes a couple of the right hops on a ledge in Moab and that stock output shaft can go boom!

Many folks get away with the stock output for a long time, but it's one of those things that can break. The problem with a broken output shaft is that there's no trail fix for it. You have to leave the rig and come back with the parts to fix it. Ask a couple of guys around here that have done just that on Golden Spike trail in Moab......it's a long way out and a long way back.





I'd be thankful that you have the SYE with the 32 spline output shaft and never look back.
 
Goatman said:
Yeah, gotta disagree with this, too. I've seen too many broken output shafts, on both 231 and 242 t-cases, on rigs with stock motors. The motor has little to do with it, it just takes a couple of the right hops on a ledge in Moab and that stock output shaft can go boom!

Many folks get away with the stock output for a long time, but it's one of those things that can break. The problem with a broken output shaft is that there's no trail fix for it. You have to leave the rig and come back with the parts to fix it. Ask a couple of guys around here that have done just that on Golden Spike trail in Moab......it's a long way out and a long way back.





I'd be thankful that you have the SYE with the 32 spline output shaft and never look back.

I would have to agree, Ive broken a 231 output shaft in my YJ with a 4 banger, 32" Swampers, a rear D44 and a Detroit. I had it bouncing pretty good. The weak point of the shaft is at the speedo gear. Dont get me wrong, I dont consider the 231 or 242 to be weak by no means, in fact, the ujoints shouldve busted way before the output shaft, I cant say why that didnt happen.
And, you can drive with a broken output shaft. Our YJ made it back home, about 150 miles, under its own power. I just pulled the rear DS and drove home in FWD. The whole t-case was toast after that though.
 
I like my 242, very handy for snowy fire roads and streets. The guy who broke an output shaft bouncing his rig around? yeah, you can and will break pretty much anything with enough abuse. If you drive conservatively, you can make either the 231 or 242 last just fine. The 231 is a bit stronger, but I'm not sure the difference is great enough to justify a swap if there's nothing wrong with your 242.

I've got the Tom Woods SYE kit in my 242, so far it's withstood a fair amount of hard use and been trouble-free. Time will tell, like anything else.
 
Depends on what you use it for. If you're going to do a lot of technical 'crawling, get the input set from an NP231D or NP231HD (should be six planets) and use the 231 - more options. If you're going to keep it on the road mainly (my rig is a work truck,) the 242 can be better - especially if you drive across the country a lot.

Speaking of which - what year was your 242, and is the input a 23-spline? I've got a 242 to rebuild that I want to put behind the AX-15 in my 88, and I need an input set...
 
Goatman said:
Yeah, gotta disagree with this, too. I've seen too many broken output shafts, on both 231 and 242 t-cases, on rigs with stock motors. The motor has little to do with it, it just takes a couple of the right hops on a ledge in Moab and that stock output shaft can go boom!

Many folks get away with the stock output for a long time, but it's one of those things that can break. The problem with a broken output shaft is that there's no trail fix for it. You have to leave the rig and come back with the parts to fix it. Ask a couple of guys around here that have done just that on Golden Spike trail in Moab......it's a long way out and a long way back.

I'd be thankful that you have the SYE with the 32 spline output shaft and never look back.

If Dan Starc can't break his 242 w/ TeraLow in several trips to Moab...it's good enough for me. ;)
 
I swapped my 242 out for a 231 a little over a year ago and don't regret it at all. The fixed yoke on the 231 SYE is nicer IMO than the flange that I had on my hack-n-tap 242 SYE. Also now I can use the same length driveshaft in the front and rear.

As far as winter driving goes, I just leave the case in 2WD unless there is a couple inches or more of snow on the road. No problems or regrets thus far after swapping.

One other benifit is that almost every Jeep on the trail is running a 231 so spare parts are easier to come by.
 
Here is something to think about... The XJ's 242's torque rating is 1486 lb/ft, the Dodge Duango/Dakota 242's torque rating is 2028 lb./ft and the H1 Humvee transfercase has a torque rating of 2340 lb/ft

I use fulltime 99% of the time. It handles better then a 231 in the rain, on dry pavement and is way better in curves. In snow it's great.

I can pull out into busy traffic in the rain without wheelspin.

Check out this thread Stroker + 242 = KA-BOOM?
 
Ray H said:
I would be careful what you believe in that article.
Example it states that SYEs are "readily available" for the 242 when actually, they arent. They're actually pretty limited. That article also lumps the 242 and the 242HD together and they arent similar at all as far as how they are used and much torque they can take.

But from the PDF GoJeep sent me it looks like an upgrade isn't that hard and is something I will be doing. It can be made much stronger.

The Dodge 242 should bolt up since it has the same input splines and bolt pattern. It's a drivers side drop. I think it uses a larger 241 sized ouput shaft from what I can tell and it has the wide chain. It might need a spacer to bolt it up and that should be about it.
 
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