dumb question

[ladywolf]

Looking through some of the old posts, I found I had a fairly dumb question to ask. With the newer XJ's (96 and newer) they were talking that you could remove the rear driveshaft and still drive the cherokee around and not have to worry about losing fluid? I'm going to lift mine, but while waiting on my YSE and new driveshaft i dont want to be left afoot. can anyone give me any good info on this? Thanks.

Kristen

[verrive]

There's no dumb questions, only dumb people that ask them :P Just kidding. I myself don't really know but I have an idea. I think you take out the driveshaft, and then plug up the transfer case(i've seen people sell plugs but i've heard of duct tape + a dixie cup). From there if you put it in 4wd I believe. I'm really new to XJ's(6 months) and am mechincally retarded so I could be completely off.

- Kevin

[ECKSJAY]

Tom Wood will let you get package price if you want to just get the SYE, install it, drive around on the front...and order the driveshaft later. That would be your best bet, providing you don't drive *too* much on the front and you don't have a mechanical locker.

[John90XJ]

A low budget option is to keep the cap from a Frito Lay container, the black plastic ones that have little Funyons, Doritos, etc. It's a pretty good fit for the back of the t-case and if the output shaft housing is clean, a piece of duct tape will hold it in place. In answer to your specific question, I recall that you are correct and it's the older models that require some kind of cap to prevent ATF leakage.

[cherokeekid]

96+ wont' leak the out put seal if before the slip.

[John90XJ]

Originally Posted by cherokeekid

96+ wont' leak the out put seal if before the slip.

I think the Captain paid a visit to Mike's house.

[JerryV]

Ya, The rear drive shaft can be removed on the 96+ without trouble or losing fluid.

[cherokeekid]

Originally Posted by John90XJ

I think the Captain paid a visit to Mike's house.

sorry I was typing with one hand, the other was busy.

[tdr1213]

I just put a JB Conversions SYE kit on my NP231. Unfortunately, the kit arrived minus the speedo gear, so now I have to wait another couple days for that to come.

Your transfer case will leak if you run it without the drive shaft. That's one the reasons to change to a fixed yoke system. It's a nightmare to break a driveshaft when rockin and while limping home your transfer case burns up because the fluid leaked out.

If you are doing the install yourself it will take a day to do the SYE and about 15 minutes to install the drive shaft. If you measure properly you can get both the kit and the driveshaft the same day.

[5-90]

I haven't seen a late NP231, so I'd go so far as to say get a tailshaft plug - most well-stocked parts houses will have them, and shops use them for pulling transmissions so they don't get fluid all over themselves under the lift. If you are planning on driving about with the plug in place, I'd probably use some "fifth force" (read: duct tape) to keep it there until you get everything in place.

Oh - welcome home. Now hurry up and get here!

5-90

[railroadjeep]

Originally Posted by 5-90

I haven't seen a late NP231, so I'd go so far as to say get a tailshaft plug - most well-stocked parts houses will have them, and shops use them for pulling transmissions so they don't get fluid all over themselves under the lift. If you are planning on driving about with the plug in place, I'd probably use some "fifth force" (read: duct tape) to keep it there until you get everything in place.

Oh - welcome home. Now hurry up and get here!

5-90

Unlike the NP231, the NV231 does not have the tail cone, at least not on any 96+ XJ's that I've seen with the newer 231 case. So I don't know how a plug will work. A cap maybe.
Only thing I've ever seen is a boot covering the slip yoke. Here's a pic from Cherokee America showing the NV231 with the yoke and boot off:

So like it's been said, yes, you can run no rear shaft and not worry about loosing fluid. Heck, look at the RE SYE for the 96+ XJ's, AFAIK it's just the flange to bolt the CV shaft to. Whereas the 95- kit has a plate that integrates a seal.

[CW]

the 96+ will not leak because it has an integraded seal, this makes the tail piece longer and is the reason the late models are more proan to vibes. It is also why a hack'n'tap is cheaper and requires less parts for late models.