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Eliminating the console

sporkton

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Laguna Beach, CA
I saw a joke in a thread the other day that was commenting on a column shift in an XJ and started thinking it might be a fun mod to eliminate the console section of my XJ. Of the three parts(shifter, Park brake, tcase shifter), the Park break appears to be a pretty easy swap from a Comanche. The column shifter appears to be reasonable except my jeep is a 95 so it has a newer column it looks like than the Comanches.

Regarding the column shifter, how hard might that be to adapt into my newer set up? I believe I could just swap the entire column in with steering wheel, but is there anyway to keep my current steering wheel? I like having cruise control and an air bag.

Regarding the tcase shifter. I have no idea how to get rid of that. Even in the Comanches they seem to leave it in the floor. I was thinking about using an electric motor for it. LIke they have in excursions or blazers, just a little button you push and it shifts into that gear.

Any thoughts on this? Its a long term project, just looking into possibility and the how and where of it all right now. Its definitely one of those "cause I can" things.

Thanks
Lawrence
 
It doesn't sound like a good idea to me, but if you're dead set on doing it:

Xfr case: They make electric-shift versions of the NP transfer cases. Start look in in the grand Cherokee lineup for your conversion parts. Not sure if you need to swap the whole case or if you can convert yours.

Column shift: Biggest headache. I've got a column shift Comanche(no you can't have it.) and it's a bolt in swap for the early XJ column, but no air bag. I don't know which style column the '95 has, which is what's important. The early XJ used a GM sourced column assembly. Does your Jeep use a GM key or a Chrysler key? If it has GM parts, you can probably find the stuff you need in mid-'90s GM cars to put together an air bag/cruise wheel on a shift column.
If you have a Chrysler key you're kind of screwed.


What's the point? Do you want to put in a bench seat so you can get some old-school style lovin'? :eeks1:
 
I very much doubt you'll be able to retain airbag and cruise buttons swapping to a column shift column. They weren't made after 92 unless you find one of the uber-rare fleet/police package model XJ's that had one... otherwise you're stuck with comanche columns, which are still hard to find, and most likely don't have the wiring for cruise buttons and definititely don't have the provisions for wiring or mounting an airbag.

I did the opposite swap in my MJ... column shift to floor shift using an XJ column. It was pretty straightforward. You'll need a whole column and shifter cable from an MJ, and I'm going to say you'll probably want to keep the years fairly close (or at least in the same era either 87-90 renix or 91-92 HO MJ, depending on the year of your XJ). The electrical plugs should be the same assuming you do this, and the column itself bolts in.

The shift interlock pieces (so you can't shift out of park with the key off) are integrated into the column, vs the floor shifter style that has a cable that goes from the column to the floor shifter. The shift cable is the same, just shorter, and is routed the same, it just stops at the column under the dash instead of continuing behind the HVAC and down to the floor shifter.

If you don't swap in an MJ cluster, you won't have a shift indicator since it's integrated into that and not on the column itself.

As far as the transfer case goes... having dealt with many a vehicle that had problems with an electrically shifted t-case (solenoids going out, motors not working, fuses blown, linkage gummed up, etc), I would say you would be going completely backwards to try and modify something to fit and work, and it would most likely be less reliable after modification to fit an XJ than it would have been on the original vehicle it came off of.
 
I just wanted to do it cause I thought it would be fun and yes i thought about a bench seat for just that reason.

It sounds like all of it is pretty difficult all around so I suppose ill have to do something else fun instead. thanks for the input.
 
Check partsbin compatibility on steering columns from other Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep products from the same model year. I know ZJs of similar year ranges had the same wheels and columns (or very similar ones) but they were floor shift as well, AFAIK.

That being said it wouldn't surprise me at all to find a Chrysler minivan or Dodge pickup with a very similar or exact match column and a column shifter.

I think this is a terrible idea, but it's not going on my jeep and it's an interesting engineering challenge, especially to make it look factory, so it got me thinking...

Also, I have one of the "mini consoles" from an auto 4x4 MJ in my storage unit somewhere, I grabbed it simply because I'd never seen one before. If I can find it I'll take some pics.

I would stay away from a shift motor, seems kinda janky and the XJ NP231 takes quite a bit of pressure on the shift lever to actually shift, mostly due to the strength of the detent spring and the bluntness of the dog teeth on the gear collars. Maybe a dash mounted control would work though, put a good stiff choke cable / actuator cable style setup on it going up through the firewall and into the dash somewhere.
 
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