Raising a 242

I'm looking for some information on how to raise my 242 just a bit, or if it is even possible in the first place. A little history would probably help. I have a '99 on 33's with the 4.0 automatic, the NP242, and stock drive train at this point. I have been running a 5.5" RE lift without the SYE for the past 6 years. Now that the XJ has been paid off for awhile and I have some extra funds, I want to make things right.

The plan is to get rid of the transfer case drop kit and get a new SYE & driveshaft. I also want to get a skid plate but am finding the choices fairly limited for my 242. I would really like to get the DPG due to its excellent coverage but am concerned about the fit. He told me his skid plate sits perfectly level with the bottom of the crossmember and that if I could lay a straight edge on the crossmember and still clear my 242 that it would fit. I tried and found that they are almost perfectly level which would leave no clearance between the plate and the transfer case.

He suggested that he had heard customers talk of making a spacer to lift the TC just enough to provide some clearance. It seems like it would be easy enough to add a small spacer between the TC and crossmember. I figure if it's all right to drop your TC 1" below stock, it should be all right to raise it 1/2" above stock. There appears to be enough room between it and the unibody... Has anyone tried this? Anyone have any suggestions on how to go about doing it? If not, does anyone see any potential problem with clearance and or mechanical issues?

I also talked to Dirk about his skid and my 242. I ended up getting TnT Custom's Bellypan for the 242 and it has worked well. It does have a small section that is below the "frame" rails so the TC does not hit. I think it covers as much, if not more, than DPGs.

Pretty hard to tell how it mounts up from the pictures on their website. It looks like it either replaces or bolts on top of the crossmember and then has a separate piece hanging down that bolts onto the skid and one frame rail to protect the TC. Is that the case or is it all one piece? The other thing that concerns me is that it does not appear to provide any protection for the catalytic converter. I guess DPG's is probably the only one that does though. Strangely enough, while the DPG gas tank skid is one of the most expensive out there, their belly skid is only about 1/2 the price of the TNT when you add in the options...:dunno:

Before this gets off topic and becomes a thread about skids... any other ideas regarding raising the TC? I'd really like to do this to maximize ground clearance and to keep the skid all one flat surface so as to aid in sliding over the rocks without hanging up.

BTT

With all the amazing fabbing going on out there someone must have tried something as simple as this, or at least considered it and decided it would not work. Anyone?

BTT

Alright, one more try at this and then I'll just have to give it a shot myself and see what happens.

I had never thought about that but seems like a good idea. From a mechanics standpoint I dont see a problem with it. I wouldn't go up anymore than needed because just as putting a transfer case drop you will stress your motor mounts. You will have to readjust all you linkage but I think it would work. Let me know how it goes when you do it because I am also running the 242 right now and may do it myself.

It does change you drive shaft angle. You may then need/want a SYE and shims or reshim the axle. It will also change the engine/tran/tcase relationship to the body. Witch may cause contact of same to body. But some stiff motor mounts (needed for hard offing anyway) and a BFH should fix that.
Your tcase is a 242 so it's a slush box (to bad). If you were shifting for yourself . I would say watch for knuckle to dash contact on hard shift.

WARNING HIJACK
Has anyone found a CHEAP(ER) way to join the 242 and ANY 5 speed?

badron said:

It does change you drive shaft angle. You may then need/want a SYE and shims or reshim the axle. It will also change the engine/tran/tcase relationship to the body. Witch may cause contact of same to body. But some stiff motor mounts (needed for hard offing anyway) and a BFH should fix that.
Your tcase is a 242 so it's a slush box (to bad). If you were shifting for yourself . I would say watch for knuckle to dash contact on hard shift.

WARNING HIJACK
Has anyone found a CHEAP(ER) way to join the 242 and ANY 5 speed?

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:guitar: Slushbox......blahh....blahh....blahh!!! I used to be just like you and dogged the guys runnin an auto. That is until I wheeled one....NEVER went back!! You can say what you like, means nothin to me because the Slushbox is the superior offroad tranny!!eace:

Just redrill the trans adapter and clock the case higher...

the Slushbox is the superior offroad tranny!!
==================================
But That will NEVER stop me from ragen on them.
If I stop ragen on slush boxes. I will start ragen on the ball and chain. On number 3 ball and chain now, So slush box look out.

with out reading the thread, when you get a crossmember that mount straight across it may hit the exhaust, i runthe Clayton crossmember and it is straight across and it rattled like crazy when i idled... iu finally got a custom exhaust made to stop raddleing.

fyrfytr1717 said:

BTT

Alright, one more try at this and then I'll just have to give it a shot myself and see what happens.

Click to expand...

My crossmember is a homebrew and goes flat against the bottom of the rails. What the previous owner/fabricator (good buddy of mine) did was pound out the floor a little where the case started to hit. To take care of the rest (as you see in the pic), he cut a section of a large diameter pipe and put the radius in. It protects the case just fine, nothing hits the floor except under REALLY hard torque, and no shifter linkage adjustments needed to happen. It turned out really well.

Thanks for the feedback all. I'm hoping by just raising it maybe 1/2" I'll avoid body contact. If no one else has tried this I guess I'm going into uncharted territory here. If it comes to it, I guess there's always the BFH.

I know the exhaust will be an issue in regards to the skid plate as well. My big ol' California catalytic converter actually hangs down lower than the TC but a few minor exhaust mods ought to take care of that.

Motor - transmission - TC alignment does concern me though. TNT, I'm not too experienced with this type of work... how do I go about "clocking the case higher" (I'm honestly not even sure what that means) I was hoping that if everything can remain functional with a 1" TC drop below stock that it should be even better off being raised only 1/2" above stock. Only half as much deflection from its original stock position compared to the TC drop.

SYE and a new driveshaft is going to happen as soon as I get everything in it's final position and can take an accurate measurment for driveshaft length. As for the "slushbox," I used to wheel a manual TJ and when I switched to the auto XJ everything seemed so much easier. It felt kind of like I was cheating... Aside from that slightly guilty feeling, I don't see any problem with wheeling an auto!

ECKSJAY said:

My crossmember is a homebrew and goes flat against the bottom of the rails. What the previous owner/fabricator (good buddy of mine) did was pound out the floor a little where the case started to hit. To take care of the rest (as you see in the pic), he cut a section of a large diameter pipe and put the radius in. It protects the case just fine, nothing hits the floor except under REALLY hard torque, and no shifter linkage adjustments needed to happen. It turned out really well.

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I like it, looks like that is raised probably about an inch above the stock height. Is that a 231 or a 242 you got in there? It's promising that no adjustments had to be made to the linkage. Not quite the way I was planning on going about it, but it looks to have achieved the same overall results. Wish I had some fabricating/welding skills, then I wouldn't have to worry about trying to make aftermarket stuff fit. One of these days I'll learn.

There are different crossmembers. One is flat across the top, and one drops about a half inch where the trans mount goes. What I did with the 242 in my Limited was sell it, and buy a 231. The options for the SYE are way better, and you can go with a wider chain in the 231. I don't recall which crossmember was which, but I have the one that's flat on top with Dirk's Belly Pan and the 231. I think it boiled down to a hack-n-tap vs a 32 spline output and I went for the 32 spline output. I can almost guarantee you can find a 231 for $100 or so from someone in the socal chapter.

fyrfytr1717 said:

Is that a 231 or a 242 you got in there?

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Goober, it's a 242. I thought that's what this thread was about.

I did a quick search on here and here are a few of the better links I found....

Transfer case clocking

T-case clocking question]

Redrilling the AW4 Output Housing to clock transfer case

ECKSJAY said:

Goober, it's a 242. I thought that's what this thread was about.

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Easy... I appreciate that you're sticking to the subject at hand. Just wanted to make sure you weren't simply showing me an example of a modified crossmember. Do you happen to know how far above stock your 242 is raised or where exactly it was hitting the body? Don't know if you were there for the install or not but figured I'd ask anyways.

TNT said:

I did a quick search on here and here are a few of the better links I found....

Transfer case clocking

T-case clocking question]

Redrilling the AW4 Output Housing to clock transfer case

Click to expand...

Oh, I get it now, like hands rotating on a clock... I'm not intimately familiar with how all the parts sit in relation to each other, but I'd be worried about fluid pick up and increasing already steep driveline angles. The links you provided reported that clocking raised the position of the front driveshaft about 7/8". I wonder how much additional ground clearance you get below the low hanging portion of the TC in exchange for that 7/8"?

Regardless, clocking seems really involved and maybe a bit beyond my mechanical abilities. I'm thinking more along the lines of: 1. Remove cross member 2. Insert 1/2" spacer 3. Replace crossmember minus the drop kit.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it? Ecksjay, how did you remount your tranny / TC without the crossmember? I don't see any provision for bolts running through your skid. Does it all just rest on top of your skid with some sort of a shock absorbing spacer sandwiched in between?

fyrfytr1717 said:

Easy... I appreciate that you're sticking to the subject at hand. Just wanted to make sure you weren't simply showing me an example of a modified crossmember. Do you happen to know how far above stock your 242 is raised or where exactly it was hitting the body? Don't know if you were there for the install or not but figured I'd ask anyways.

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I was giving you a mildly hard time. More like a soft time. :spam: At any rate... I don't remember *exactly* where, just that it was starting to hit in the tunnel. You can't go completely crazy with things because the seats still have to bolt in. It was a matter of tapping a couple of the high points in the tunnel. IIRC< we figured it's about an inch higher than stock.