can you share a picture of the stickshift handle? what's teh overall bend look like? what's the bend look like that's partially hidden under that boot?
good idea. ooo, a photo taken from the rear axle towards the t-case might help. assuming the 2.5L wranglers had the same clocking as the 4.0 wranglers of course.
those studs screw directly into the plastic of the box and so if you turn them, they might just unscrew from said box. it might be mostly free and you're just missing one.
4wd is controlled by the giant lever by your knee. eliminating the CAD only makes it like any 91+ XJ. (aka: it makes it into a "solid shaft" on the pass side)