[EMTimZJ]

Depends what year cherokee, some of the earlier will be short shaft and 21 spline. You will need medium or long shaft and 23 spline. ALL ZJ's are medium shaft, except for 93-95 V8's most of them are long. Mine was a long shaft but the 242 I put in was a medium shaft, we will see how that works. There is plenty of tranny output shaft engaging the TC input, so no issue of strength, the shaft just gets inside the seal as well. The reason I didn't swap the shafts was early vs late gear cut. The gear cut changed in 94/95 (no evidence to suggest EXACTLY when) and are not compatable.

You will not need to mess with driveshaft length.

HTH

[Yardman Harry]

thanks tim! i appreciate it. im actually pulling ithe 231 off of my 1990 cherokee. so is this too early? this will be a short shaft? and its no good for me?

as for the spline i can use the 23 spline from my 249 once i tear it apart? im sorry im such a newb at this

thanks for your help

[EMTimZJ]

That XJ will probably have the 21 spline, short shaft, early gearcut. You have the 23 spline, medium shaft, late gearcut. I *might* be able to give you my long early cut shaft, but don't count on it, I don't want to mess up your project if I don't have time.

Tranny shops, or some other yards might have what you are looking for, for a better price.

HTH

[Yardman Harry]

thanks for all your help tim! man, theres more to this then i thought... which is discouraging. my apartments driveway isnt the right place to do it. man...

how long did it take for your conversion?

also your saying i will need this part http://www.tellico4x4.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/6110

and then i should be ok?


im such a newb, i read so many posts about this conversion and i am still finding out more and more, thanks again tim

[EMTimZJ]

My friend and I both had the day off. We started around noon, got the case out in about 1.5 hours, went to lunch for a while, came back, ran to Napa since I was given the wrong tranny output seal when I was gathering parts, had to disassemble part of the 249 to get the tailshaft snap ring that I had lost from the 242, put up the new case, adjusted the shifter linkage, messed around outside in the icy parking lot of the shop( varifying that 2wd and the other modes did work properly), came side, cleaned up, looked under the work vans and '66 t-bird and joked about throwing the 14bolt, D70, or Ford 9" under the ZJ... I think we locked up around 7pm. (so from 12-7 with at least 2.5 hours of not wrenching, lunch, Napa run, messing around, snapping photos) Compared to the plenum gasket this was a piece of cake.

Working wide open heated space made it easier. Also, I pretty much had the Jeep on all four tires the entire time. My lift I have (specs in sig) was enough for moving around under neath without needing it higher. Only time we jacked the wheels up was to spin the from driveshaft when removing the bolts.

We definately did not break any wrenching records, two people DEFINATELY makes it faster, easier, and safer. We used the air-wrench to remove the bolts on the skid plate and cross member, everything else was by hand. The 8mm wrench will help you remove the front driveshaft fromt the TC yoke faster. Having a 9/16 or 15mm wrench will help getting the 6 bolts started and then using a small ratchet and deepwell sockets to remove them the rest of the way. Also use the 9/16 or 15mm to manually shift the TC into each mode.

Yes that is the input gear I am refering too. I called a few tranny shops and they were less than that price. However, that site does not specify (at least I didn't see it) whether or not that is early or late gearcut, or what length the shaft is.

Yes there is some things to consider, reading through the information and crawling under the jeep to scope it out, really helped. Some of the steps are quick and easy, some take a little more time and muscle or use of leverage.

Feel free to ask as much as you would like

HTH

[jeepholic]

Best write-up ever!
I love my 242
I can light them up in forward or reverse anytime I want, but I have not done it since I went to 33's, I am scared or grenading something.

Why no rebuild? I read that you opened the case and inspected all the parts, did you know the history of this case? Would it have been fairly easy to rebuild from a kit, as I am thinking of getting one and rebuilding it and dumping it in since mine binds. (Is hard to switch between 2wd and 4wd modes). It also leaks from the seal (you have pictured) so it's due to come out anyway.

Thanks again for such a great write-up and great pics, I bookmarked it.

Andy

[SBlackfoot]

If I may ask an unrelated question, your tranny mount looks just like mine (ie. different than the one in the parts catalogues). Have you had to find a replacement yet? I've been SOL so far for mine. The dealer is my next stop. Any suggestions?

[anticrombie]

Originally Posted by jeepholic

Best write-up ever!
I love my 242
I can light them up in forward or reverse anytime I want, but I have not done it since I went to 33's, I am scared or grenading something.

Why no rebuild? I read that you opened the case and inspected all the parts, did you know the history of this case? Would it have been fairly easy to rebuild from a kit, as I am thinking of getting one and rebuilding it and dumping it in since mine binds. (Is hard to switch between 2wd and 4wd modes). It also leaks from the seal (you have pictured) so it's due to come out anyway.

Thanks again for such a great write-up and great pics, I bookmarked it.

Andy

This indeed is a great writeup. I think it should be stickied!

I'll have to remember this come time to put my 242 in. Even though I won't have taken out a 249, it'll help for putting one back in.

[EMTimZJ]

@Andy, I took just about every piece out of this case, cleaned it up, and looked it over. It was all in great condition. The guy I bought it said there was 70K on it. Who knows if it was right or not but there was not any worn or damaged parts. Everything shifted and turned just like it should. I decided a rebuilt was not necesary.

@SBlackFoot, that is the factory "old" style tranny mount. It is a bit worn but isn't a problem at this time. I do not think they make the old style anymore, infact there is a "retro-fit" upgrade to the newer style. Here is a link to a picture of the newer style, note that is an aftermarket crossmenber/skid.

Charlie, get your 4x4 action going!

HTH

[Yardman Harry]

hey tim, thanks again for everything. I am getting a better grasp on things, (i think) so i think i am still going to pull the 231 this weekend, but wait to put it on untill mid summer. in the meantime ill clean her up and rebuild if necessary. as for the input shaft, the funny story is, in my xj the 4wd went on her, when you would engage 4wd and put any pressure on it it would pop and not move. so, that is the reason i took it off the road, i was in college and didnt have any time or money to figure out what was wrong. so i sold it to my brother in law.

he then changed the t case out with a new one from the junk yard, however i remember him telling me that he had a problem with the splines matching up, so he then went back to the junk yard and pulled the splines off of an older one. and threw away the one he didnt need, which ironically enough was probably the 23 spline.

thanks for your help again, now i have an idea of how long it should take, granted i know what i am doing. if i have any more qs i will of course ask. thanks again!!

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by Swamp Boy

Good Job Tim.. Where is the finished pic of it in 2WD???


Something like this...

Swampy,

Why did you ditch your 242 for 231?

[EMTimZJ]

Originally Posted by zaq123

Swampy,

Why did you ditch your 242 for 231?

Carl let that 242 have a piece of his tuned 318 Somthing along the lines of pulling a fullsize out of a mud pit. I believe he found a heck of a deal on a 231HD and put that in instead.

[PumaZJ]

wierd... my 242 doesn't have that tailshaft housing.

[HighLonesome]

Originally Posted by SBlackfoot

If I may ask an unrelated question, your tranny mount looks just like mine (ie. different than the one in the parts catalogues). Have you had to find a replacement yet? I've been SOL so far for mine. The dealer is my next stop. Any suggestions?

If you have a 93-95 ZJ, you would do well to purchase the udpated tranny mount stuff. These PNs are from the 2100 rpm 'rumble' TSB, and are OEM on 96-98 ZJs. Everything was about $200 from www.buymopar.com

Here's what you need:

1 52058784 Transmission Bracket
1 52058765 Cross Member
1 52058488 Transmission Mount
1 06504553 Bolt, Transmission support to Transmission Bracket
1 06033358 Bolt, Transmission Support
4 06101670 Bolt, Transmission support to cross member

[HighLonesome]

Yes this a nice thread and writeup. When you do the TC, you should install the updated shift linkage kit, bout $30. Money well spent. Here's the PN from TSB:

1 04886481AA Repair Kit, Transfer Case Shifter (ZJ/ZG)