Confused on flat towing an XJ...

Best way to do it is to pull the DS, front and rear.

However, I believe that you can flat-tow an XJ with the transfer case (and transmission) in neutral. That should unlock the drive train from the wheels....

The YJ should be the same. T-Case in Neutral...but I'm not sure how you would lock a manual tranny into Neutral.

*edit*

Damn double posts!!

Does it have an np231 or np242 (full time four wheel drive)?

With the 231 (no full time option), you are going to have to pull a shaft.

Flat towing an auto XJ, you want the transmission in P and the transfercase in N. Early np231's locked the front and rear driveshaft together when in N, which will cause binding when you flat tow. Somewhere around 1995 they changed the transfercase to have a true neutral, it seems to be a gray area when it exactly happened.

If it has a 242 (full time four wheel drive), N should work fine.

PUT t-case in Neut Then put trans back in PARK, (DO NOT LOCK STEERING ) This is how i Tow my XJ for years, I have not had any trans or t-case troub... My friend has over 200 thou from towing on his xj an he does his the same way

I have a 89 XJ that I flat tow all the time. Has more flat towed miles than driven miles. Put the TC in "N" and the trans in "P". Make sure you unlock the steering unless you dont like your tires. My TC is a 231 and the Trans is an auto.

You should not have any issues.

Thanks for all the input, keep it coming!!!! So is the NP 231 really an issue(?) seems the comments are split. I don't know what T case is in the one we're looking at but given the year I'd guess the 231 but will call the owner to make sure.

scottmcneal said:

PUT t-case in Neut Then put trans back in PARK, (DO NOT LOCK STEERING ) This is how i Tow my XJ for years, I have not had any trans or t-case troub... My friend has over 200 thou from towing on his xj an he does his the same way

Click to expand...

Could you tell me what year XJ's and T cases you guys have/had, just trying to figure this out... Thanks again!

Mine is a 89 an my friends is a 96

ACME said:

Thanks for all the input, keep it coming!!!! So is the NP 231 really an issue(?) seems the comments are split. I don't know what T case is in the one we're looking at but given the year I'd guess the 231 but will call the owner to make sure.

Could you tell me what year XJ's and T cases you guys have/had, just trying to figure this out... Thanks again!

Click to expand...

The NP231 and NP242 were both in common use for 1987 and later. Easy way to tell -
If you have the 4HI Full Time setting (usually on Limited,) you have the NP242.

If you do not have 4HI Full Time, you have the NP231.

I would suggest just pulling the driveshafts if you're going to tow for long distances (at least unbolt the yoke straps at the axles and "hang" the driveshafts...) but I'm a firm believer in overkill. Transmission in Park and Transfer Case in Neutral should do as well (but for long distances, it's just simpler to pull the shaft It takes about five minutes to hook it back up - 15 if you removed them completely.)

Note that both the NP231 and NP242 have slip yoke rear output shafts - if you remove the rear driveshaft entirely, you'll need a plug to retain the fluid in the tcase. Various SYE kits are available for the NP231, and I think some can be adapted to the NP242 as well. There are also a couple of "poor mans' SYE" kits out there as well - information is here (the most promising one seems to be the one devised by Tom "old_man" Houston - use that for a jumping-off point when searching. He even calls it the "Poor Man's SYE" - so you should get fairly narrow results on the advanced search option.)

cal said:

Does it have an np231 or np242 (full time four wheel drive)?

With the 231 (no full time option), you are going to have to pull a shaft.

Flat towing an auto XJ, you want the transmission in P and the transfercase in N. Early np231's locked the front and rear driveshaft together when in N, which will cause binding when you flat tow. Somewhere around 1995 they changed the transfercase to have a true neutral, it seems to be a gray area when it exactly happened.

If it has a 242 (full time four wheel drive), N should work fine.

Click to expand...

You shouldn't have any problems towing an NP231. They have a Neutral setting and are self lubricating. I've never had to pull the shaft. Where do you get the info that the driveshafts are locked in Neutral? I'd like to see that. If they do lock I'd like to know about it.

coastie124 said:

You shouldn't have any problems towing an NP231. They have a Neutral setting and are self lubricating. I've never had to pull the shaft. Where do you get the info that the driveshafts are locked in Neutral? I'd like to see that. If they do lock I'd like to know about it.

Click to expand...

My '87 locks. Crackers '94 locks. Andy Stieners 2001 does not lock. The only other guy I know off the top of my head that flat tows has a 242, so it doesnt apply.

cal said:

My '87 locks. Crackers '94 locks. Andy Stieners 2001 does not lock. The only other guy I know off the top of my head that flat tows has a 242, so it doesnt apply.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I've had four XJs with NP231, and none of them locked (it was usually easier to just put the transfer case in neutral to push them about anyhow.)

Besides, it wouldn't make sense to lock the shafts in Neutral - that's what the Neutral setting on the transfer case is for. Dumb question - but are you sure there wasn't anything wrong with those transfercases?

I'm pretty sure nothing was wrong with them yes.

Go read a bit on the subject, this is a pretty common complaint with early 231's. "Neutral" disconnects the transfercase from the engine, but there is no differential between the front and rear. The moment you click into '4 hi', and keep moving back, both shafts are locked together. The "2 low" kit changes the shift mechanism to allow a disconnect of the front end while out of the 2 hi position.

I know lets have him go an put it in nau.. Then put t-case in nau and put trans back in park to see if it rolls... that will tell him if it works right?

Oh, it will roll fine. Push it around a right hand turn at 25 mph, and see if the front end skips and pops like it were in 4 wheel drive.

MIne don't thank god, mine friends doesn't, it did when we first did the lift, then we set tow an stuff at his shop.. sorry but i heard you could flat tow them

cal said:

Oh, it will roll fine. Push it around a right hand turn at 25 mph, and see if the front end skips and pops like it were in 4 wheel drive.

Click to expand...

Or just push it in a tight circle in a parking lot at 3mph. That's all it takes for mine to start binding when driving it in gear. Haven't tested it yet though to see if my TC is locked in neutral or not.

Time to go back to ford or dodge

Well I guess I got the debate going and am now as confused as ever, keep it coming! FYI, I just called the local Jeep shop and they said never flat tow an AT/XJ period, couldn't really explain why, "only flat tow manual trans" was all he said. It does hve an NP 231, would adding a locking hub set up to the front change anything and what would you guys recommend as far as a decent mid level price setup? I'll bet there are as many opinions on this topic as on blondes or red heads... Thanks for all the input!

Lots of good reading on flat towing on the rv.net forum

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/31.cfm

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19802717.cfm