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Selec-Trac Advantages
- Thread starter dougfunny2020
- Start date
- Location
- Harrisburg, NC
Untill you need it.....then you'll wish you had it.miketyson said:
Thats what I love about mine. The one snow storm we had this winter left about an inch to an inch and a half of slush on the roads. Just enough to make it slick, but not enough to be able to get away (safely) with 4hi. Threw it in FT and forgot about it.zipjeep said:
Blaine B.
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Northwest Indiana
As the part-time 4wd system has a speed restriction (I think it's 50 mph?), does the full-time 4wd system have a restriction or not?
miketyson said:
Another tiny, inexperienced nation heard from and ignored. Moving on:
Blaine B. said:
There is no speed restriction per se on use of either the 231 or 242. However:
Depending on year of manufacture, the owner's manual may have made different recommendations regarding the engagement of 4HI ranges. Earlier models came with the recommendation to not engage them above 55mph; later ones said that they could be engaged at any highway-legal speed. Note that 55mph was the older, unconstitutional federal speed limit that was repealed in the early '90s, hence the later change of wording in the manual to "any highway-legal speed".
I've engaged both my past 231 and present 242 at speeds of up to 75mph without incident. Note that this was done more out of suicidal curiosity to see what would happen than out of need while overdriving the conditions - so at least my experience bears out 55mph as being an arbitrary limit. YMMV.
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Blaine B.
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Northwest Indiana
Oh ok, good to know! I do 99% city driving anyway......nothing above 45 really. But that's what my 95's manual said in it. So thanks 
Bones
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Mid Missouri
mattyg said:
Matty,
How many 242's have you owned/broke?
I have a 242 and I wheel it. Have I broken one, YES (more like destroyed it). But, where I broke, a 231 wouldn't have survived either.
The only weakness is the lack of a HD upgrade and less overall choice in SYE kits, 4:1 conversions, et al aftermarket stuff.
Advantages are better on road manners for lifted auto rear locked XJ's, muting front torsional driveline vibes for tall lifts, and flexibility on and off road with the ability to run an "AWD" type set up, while still retaining all the off road function of the 231.
Bones :skull1:
Crash_AF
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
jrock said:
Depends on which 242 you get. If you get an early 21 spline, then yes.
I have mine bolted to an AX15. I had to buy a new input gear from Jeep to change it to 23 spline to do it, but that was cheaper than buying a new tcase since I was doing a 4wd conversion and the case was given to me for free.
Later,
Joe
Rick Anderson
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Lusby, MD
There are some ABS systems out there on some vehicles that do suck and a driver that "knows" what he's doing can stop shorter than the ABS system stops.miketyson said:
BUT, just like the Part/Full Time 4WD thing I was getting at, many many drivers have no clue about their vehicles or even some basics about driving. Any ABS will probably be better than nothing for these drivers.
My XJ doesn't have ABS, how good is the system on the XJ? How well does it handle the Mud/Snow and Gravel? There are plenty of ABS systems that are far worse than other in those conditions, i.e. lock up the wheels far later and extend the stop length quite longer.
Has anyone rigged up a switch to turn their ABS on and off for the conditions. Is such a thing possible, or is the ABS so good, that there is no reason to turn it off in any condition?
Blaine B.
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Northwest Indiana
I always heard ABS on the XJ's sucked.....at least before 97.
Rick Anderson said:
Better than some, not as good as others. I personally have no issues with it (and it has saved my bacon on a couple of occasions); 'adequate' would probably be about the most accurate description.
It's useless off-pavement for the reasons you've described, but that's pretty much all ABS systems. More:
It's entirely possible (and I have a switch that's been sitting on a shelf for a year-and-a-half for exactly that purpose), but just pulling the 40A fuse in the PDC to the ABS solenoid when I want to disable it hasn't become enough of a chore to justify wiring it in yet. If I were going to do it, I'd go for switching the ABS relay rather than the fuses.
Bones
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Mid Missouri
Blaine B. said:
The Bendix ABS stuff of pre-92 is the real deadly system but this ABS stuff is
in a thread about transfer cases.Bones :skull1:
Blaine B.
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Northwest Indiana
:touché:
mattyg
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Victoria,BC
Bones said:
1 and 1
just where i am from, it is pointless
when it gets snowy out i put it in 4h and go slow:idea:
what is this "does the 242 work above 50mph" crap,
do you really need to drive at 50mph in 4wd, maybe in baja,
well if you have to drive 60mph in snowy conditions go 242
if you want a simple operating tcase with superior aftermarket support and upgrades go 231, and use common sense in the snow not the stupid pedal
mattyg
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Victoria,BC
justme said:
what situations offroad would a 242 be better than a 231??
hill clmbs...no
off camber...no
mud?...no
rocks..,no
icy logging roads...maybe...maybe not
mattyg
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Victoria,BC
:moon: :flipoff:
Spidey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wichita, KS
mattyg said:
I am a new entry into this apparent ongoing battle between the 242's and the Haters...
I am really going to make the Haters hate, because I also own a 2003 Liberty with the 231!
Oh, and I also own a 1976 CJ7 (that's an AMC, by the way). And there's the recently acquired 2006 Commander with Quadra-Trac II (NV245 for those who care).
Anyway, back to the point...
Out of the (4) 4-wheel drive vehicles that I own, guess which rig I drive in the snow & ice?
My 1992 XJ Limited with the 242 transfer case!!!
Control. It's all about control. No wondering when & if the part-time transfer case is going to lope around a partially (or non) icy corner. No wondering if the roads are slippery enough to be in part-time 4WD or if I'm hosing up the transfer case by running it in part-time when I shouldn't be.
My driving style in the snow and ice is to use the engine to control the vehicle, not the brakes. I was very impressed with the 231 in our Liberty during snowstorms, but during icy conditions I usually shift back into 2WD because at least I know when the wheels are going to break traction. Part-time 4WD is too unpredictable in icy conditions IMO.
Sometimes I'll even shift my 242 into full-time 4WD when it rains for extra traction. There is a definite difference in the feel of the vehicle when in full-time 4WD. Much more stable and sure-footed. Of course, it eats fuel like a hog but it's worth the extra dough.
I will follow all of this up by saying that I never use full-time 4WD on the trails (other than on the dirt roads leading up to the ORV parks).
My opinion of the 242 is that it is the best of all worlds if you're using your rig as a DD (as was the case for me until 3 months ago). If the 242 breaks, I'll search for one in a salvage yard because I have been very impressed with its performance.
BTW - the ol' XJ is over 160K now and has been wheeled several times a year (in addition to being a DD) since I bought it in 2004 when it had 120K on the odo.
Not going to argue with anyone else's point of view - just wanted to offer my own personal experience with the 242...
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Spidey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wichita, KS
casm said:
Um, I did...
Am I wrong for offering my opinion of the 242?
Sorry, I guess this is a closed forum!
justme
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- The Deep Freeze (Evanston, WY)
Hey Casm! While I agree with your opinion (and Spideys) on the Select-Trac, you gotta learn to play well with others on the threads! Let's be nice! Why so grumpy?
