NP231 Overhaul Kit

I'm having no luck finding a 242 locally to do the swap I want to do and my 231 is getting worse with a growling noise at part throttle when in 2WD, loud whining when in 4H, very slight play in the rear output shaft and when you rotate the driveshafts by hand you can hear the chain flopping around inside.

Rock Auto carries an overhaul kit from USA Standard Gear for 110 dollars plus another 50 for a Cloyes chain.

Are there better options? Anyone have a 242 needing a rebuild laying around so I don't have to do this twice? lol

Novak conversations has a rebuild kit. It’s pricey, but you get what you pay for, and this is quality stuff.

https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/transfer-case-parts/np-231-parts

I used a Transparts kit to do my 242. Junk. Big difference between what came in the kit and the Timken parts I used instead. My suggestion would be to either find a kit of known good quality, Timken had kits in the past, or piece it together yourself. On Rockauto.com, the SKF kit is only $10 more than the US Standard Gear kit . Unless someone chimes in indicating that their US Standard Gear kit had quality parts, I'd consider the few extra $$ well worth it.

Have you tried www.car-part.com?

I’m not sure how much these kits are, but would the Tera 4-low kit replace all your bad parts?

Jim Malcolm said:

I used a Transparts kit to do my 242. Junk. Big difference between what came in the kit and the Timken parts I used instead. My suggestion would be to either find a kit of known good quality, Timken had kits in the past, or piece it together yourself. On Rockauto.com, the SKF kit is only $10 more than the US Standard Gear kit . Unless someone chimes in indicating that their US Standard Gear kit had quality parts, I'd consider the few extra $$ well worth it.

Have you tried www.car-part.com?

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I've emailed a bunch of salvage yards in search of a 242 on Car-Part and have gotten zero responses as far as I can tell at this point no one actually monitors that website or the emails they receive from it.

If you want quality parts you might want to call JB Conversions.

He has his own seals custom made with a double lip.

I'm ok with buying quality parts but don't need anything over the top. This is a largely stock XJ. JB Conversions kit looks nice but after you throw in the chain it's almost 400 dollars. Novak includes the Chain with their master rebuild kit for 240 dollars.

G2 has a good quality rebuild kit with Timken bearings. I usually just buy the bearings and seals anymore

These guys are located in CO and sell used Jeep parts; expensive though:

https://www.jeepsunlimited.net/prod...tegory/jeep_drivetrain/category/transfer_case

https://www.facebook.com/FN-Jeep-170765876276403/

http://www.timbukthree4wd.com/rebuilt-components.php


FN Jeep might be worth a call.

Re Car-part . Com
Most junk yards are run by the nearly functional, so don’t expect much. To meet Hollander requirements and the minimum ability to sell their inventory to other yards and buy parts they have a digital inventory list and computer system to look parts up. The emails set up decades ago probably aren’t monitored if the default address even exist anymore.

The exceptions are the really big yards, years ago I worked at some on the parts counter that where multimillion dollar a year businesses and they took the time to hire and pay people to keep the back end of the business running smoothly, guess it’d be called it now except it wasn’t thought of that way back then. most good yards are one or two man shows keep inventory, warehouse shipping receiving and company data accurate, these guys and gals don’t have the luxury to check the inbox for customer inquiries. Look for junk yards with a serious online presence, yards on eBay or other online selling platforms are going beyond the minimum, and probably have one or two dedicated sales staff to monitor it.

BTW majority of counter men don’t go beyond the desk or think to look at the company in box. Again bigger yards will pay for better sales teams who if smart take advantage of every opportunity for a sale.


Far as sourcing on line, I’ve had better results with Hollanderparts .com, it’s run by the people who sell the junk yards their software, so tends to be closer to what other junk yards see when looking up parts, data about when the car came in, vin, mileage, any notes about condition. Not perfect because once again individual yards have to care to keep it accurate. But I’ve used eBay, car parts and Hollander to research parts purchases. Hollander normally has pictures and often a way to buy it and have it shipped where car part does not. The parts listed with free shipping or predetermined shipping cost have always shipped out, I assume it’s because between Hollander and PayPal the right people get the notification of the order.

I use all three sources to piece parts and often car parts or Hollander show the lowest/Wholesale prices the yard will accept. Sometimes I make a offer on eBay right below where they want to be.
Of course not all junk yards are visible through these places and some yards only use one of them and not the other.




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Would it really be worth paying shipping on an 85 pound xfer case? Worst case, find a used Cherokee with a 242 to rebuild, then either stick your 231 in it and resell or part it out.

lawsoncl said:

Would it really be worth paying shipping on an 85 pound xfer case? Worst case, find a used Cherokee with a 242 to rebuild, then either stick your 231 in it and resell or part it out.

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Considering what 4x4 XJs even with major problems go for around here shipping might be cheaper lol

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devildog0 said:

Considering what 4x4 XJs even with major problems go for around here shipping might be cheaper lol

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You're not kidding. I've got a friend just out of San Antonio. I started looking on craigslist and Jeeps are not cheap down there. I saw a couple in the $600-800 range but they look pretty beat from the pictures. I just looked again and I think the cheapest cherokee now is like $3500. Not too bad for a rust free running driving XJ but certainly not in the "parts" price range.