I always fought my Z bar linkage for the 242 that was swapped into my 96 5.2 ZJ with a 44RE. I decided to spring on the Novak 242 shift cable for 93-98 Grand Cherokees. The cable, brackets and all hardware are top notch. The brackets installed no problem except the TC mount. I should have gotten suspicious when the bracket was basically pressed up against the transmission.
When I went to install the cable, I ran into several problems. The loop is too sharp for the cable plus the transmission cooling line, kickdown cable and gear select cable are all in the way of where the cable needs to loop. I then noticed that the holes in the brackets for the cable are not parallel. The cable would have been kinked/cock-eyed. I tried for 3 hours to figure out a way to make it work. There is just no way.
I took it all off and called Novak. They said it should work but I am betting that if you have a 4.0 with AW4 you will have no problems. The AW4 has less girth through the middle than a 44RE. It is also a lot longer. The tech on the phone told me I was doing something wrong, which I was not. I am a highly competent shade tree mechanic. I mean I did rebuild my 44a in my driveway lol. The Novak tech was condescending the entire time and said fine send it back.
I am not ranting about Novak at all, matter of fact I recommend them if you have an AW4 with a 242. If you have a 44re, don't bother. I forgot to take pictures because it was 330am when I gave up and took it all back off. In the red circle is everything that is in the way of the Novak Cable.
When I went to install the cable, I ran into several problems. The loop is too sharp for the cable plus the transmission cooling line, kickdown cable and gear select cable are all in the way of where the cable needs to loop. I then noticed that the holes in the brackets for the cable are not parallel. The cable would have been kinked/cock-eyed. I tried for 3 hours to figure out a way to make it work. There is just no way.
I took it all off and called Novak. They said it should work but I am betting that if you have a 4.0 with AW4 you will have no problems. The AW4 has less girth through the middle than a 44RE. It is also a lot longer. The tech on the phone told me I was doing something wrong, which I was not. I am a highly competent shade tree mechanic. I mean I did rebuild my 44a in my driveway lol. The Novak tech was condescending the entire time and said fine send it back.
I am not ranting about Novak at all, matter of fact I recommend them if you have an AW4 with a 242. If you have a 44re, don't bother. I forgot to take pictures because it was 330am when I gave up and took it all back off. In the red circle is everything that is in the way of the Novak Cable.