2wd vs. 4wd on pavement

I have a '89 MJ Eliminator in line for restoration on my driveway... it is bone stock and has the 4.0, Pugeot 5-speed and 3.07 D35.

I was thinking about converting it to 4wd as part of the restoration since I have both a 4wd Pugeot w/ 231 and a AW4 w/ 242 in my garage.

My thought was that despite the added weight of the 4wd hardware, the full time feature might be useful on a street performance MJ. I would, of course, swap in 3.55 axles with the automatic.

Any thoughts or opinions on 2wd vs. 4wd in street applications? I'm not looking for a dragster here, but something that would be nimble in corners, etc.

Wouldn't the 242 explode its internals? Or is there a viscous coupler in there that would reduce the shock?

I think a 242 would be ideal since it allows wheel slippage front to rear. Even better would be one of the full time AWD t-cases in some of the Grands. I have thought I picking one up myself.

Milemarker makes a coupling originally for rally racing, that will allow a substantial amount of slip between fornt and rear wheels so that you dont wreck things. But its a costly unit, about $500..its the route I am taking though with the NP207 (far less than ideal t-case).

XJguy

I don't know, I like my little 2wd Manche. If you lower it a little, throw a tall rear in it (taller than 3.07's) with some low profile treads, its surprising what those trucks can do. Sometimes it is a little squirrelly in the rain, but when its dry I have hung the rear end out a few times hooking a tight corner. I put all poly bushings on the sway bar up front too. It needs a rear sway bar to be ideal, but handles well without. I'm thinking Pro-Street MJ one of these days. I'll probably be at Chris's this weekend if you want to see it.

A.

Duh, you saw it at Nac-Fest...

Hmmm, personally I think that the 242/AW4 combo would be the most versatile (3-4 season use depending on the tires it rolls on) and do away with the Peugot...

I dunno how much you love shifting, but if the splines merry up, you could have a 242/5-speed combo...

OTOH my MJ SWB 4.0 will more than likely remain a 2x4 (with a 2x AW4 in place of the broken Peugot...lacking a few pieces LOL all of them, come to think about it)

Ghost said:

Wouldn't the 242 explode its internals? Or is there a viscous coupler in there that would reduce the shock?

Click to expand...

The 242 I bought 2nd hand exploded it's internals 2 feet from where I installed it LOL, but I think it was a planetary gear that was out of orbit.

These cases have a differential inside them that allows the slippage...IIRC the ZJ/WJ 249(?) cases that have the viscous coupler

not sure how it all fits in a scheme of things, but in Europe AWD stock vehicles where available for quite a while..... Audi, Opel, Subaru, VW, Citroen, Pegeut (no it's not as bad as the tranny we had here) and Reno are a few that come to my mind. I remember watching all those rally race events and even street racing and being amazed when I found out that most of them are AWD! So I guess a right setup might be the ticket........

Kejtar

I'm glad this cam up. I've been doing my build up in my head trying to work out problems before I actually get to start it. One of my debates is 4x4 or 2x4 for a street MJ. how much more would the 4x4 weigh compared to the 2wd and is there a TC that is just a single speed awd unit to ssave some wiegth?

Red, there is a company that rebuilds t-cases for racing application and I am sure they can remove the parts you dont need. Dino probably knows the company, I think they are called Force 10?

XJguy

A 4x4 handles, well like a 4x4 on the street. 2wd would be easier and lighter as well.

All the road race MJs were 4cyl and 2wd...yet they were nearly unbeatable.

XJguy

As I see it, a 2WD MJ is better balanced than a 4WD. I know the front axle is all unsprung weight, but I believe it would make a difference in whether or not you "plow" a corner or stick the front and loosen up the rear a little. Also having a pumpkin in the front limits how much you can lower the center of gravity. Besides, there is no weight at all in the rear of SB MJ's with the 4.0, all the weight is up front. You really don't need to "set the front" as much in an MJ when going into a corner, because all the weight is already there.

My other vehicle is a GMC Typhoon. Granted it is much heavier than a 2WD MJ, but I have plowed my share of corners with it and had to accelerate just before the apex of the corner to get the front to pull me through. It is fun to do to, but takes a more technical driving style to corner well.

Just my .02, I like this new forum!!

A.

Well, since it is already a 2wd 4.0 5-speed and the tranny is relatively new, maybe I'll just leave it that way. I could easily just throw a 3.55 D35 in the back for better acceleration.

Interesting insight guys... I'm new to the street performance arena, so keep it coming.

Like evry one else here I'm glad this new form is here Its graet to be able o dicuss this with out to much BS lol
The weigh issue is something I've been working with. but thinking of the advantagee of the line would be increddible, but considering I'll be changing the rear suspention to a non leaf setup I can help dial in better traction for launches and hopefully keep it balanced for the turns. plus relocating the bat and little thing can make a bigg diffrence. I'm even thinking about going Indepentant front and rear. the rear is aesier than the front by using a corvet or Jag setup but the front would take a bunch of work but doable. so many ideas so little time.

Here's a plan... I'll take the 3.55 D44 from my '87 longbed and put it under the Eliminator in 2wd trim for the time being. Then, after driving it for awhile, I'll experiment with adding the aw4/242 and a 3.55 D30. I think maybe a stroker motor might be nice with that combination for a real sleeper.

Coilovers all around....maybe a 4 link setup in the rear and A-arms up front...should be sweet.

XJguy

XJguy you hitit dead on. I've been working on this in my head for about 5 months now. I have a couple diffrent ideas and I'll proble end up doing them all in stages untill i get to the final stage witch i could do from the begining but we all know how that works. My first idea is taking a alum 44 from a grand and making a 4link in the rear that way I have disks and a decent street rearend. the next step would be getting an axle out of a 2wd WJ or just the outers so i can have some killer brakes and then get a rear out of a 4wd WJ and put that in so i have even better disks and if i get one with the verilock it would have a good L/S / locker setup.
then start alover and do something with an IFS. you can buy pinto and vega style front suspentions but I don't think the work well enough. or go with a strut style front end so that all i would need would be a lower arm from under the pan and then a arm goint back to the frame. I have a bunch of ideas drawn out for thy front end including on th would use the stock style upers and lowers but I want o get rid of the lower mount so that it dosent get hung on speed bumps. Then there the rear oother than the 4 link I could use a corvet IRS or a Jag set up wich can be had for about 600 from some of the kit car supplyers, both would do well but requier a bunch of work(like nothing else I want to do would).
yes i have alot of time to think about this crap but right now not enough to get it done. but soon very soon will have my shop built. and then I'll be in heaven.

REDXJ4FUN said:

...plus relocating the bat and little thing can make a bigg diffrence. I'm even thinking about going Indepentant front and rear. the rear is easier than the front by using a corvette or Jag setup but the front would take a bunch of work but doable. so many ideas so little time.

Click to expand...

The front could be done *relatively* easily by installing a complete aftermarket Mustang II set-up, the kind that are sold for kit cars.
I understand that IRS is a b!tch to setup for racing. A solid axle with four link coil-overs would be nearly as effective and much simpler and more dependable.

Ya I could use the Mustage front end but I don't know if i like the geomtry of it. The rear isn't as bad since I have room to work. A jag rear would be easiest but a corvet est up would work to.