Incommando

I swapped a '98 AW4/231 combo into my '91 to convert it to 4wd. In my case the speedo connected and worked just fine but mine is an OBD so...? My '91 rear drive shaft slip yoke also worked fine with the '98 231 but of course I did not try it with a 242. The year and or tranny differences may well change the info but this was correct for mine.

My '98 t-case needed nothing when I did my 4x4 conversion

LWB only. Can they be easily modded without looking like @$$ afterwards?

You see these swaps and they are ok for a "neat factor" but are they realistic? 4bt = 800 pounds, 105 horsepower & 265 #/' of torque. A stock 4.0 HO is 190/225 and weighs less than 500 pounds. What do you think that extra weight will do to your handling and the front subframe? I can't imagine the thought process of the doof who put one in that Nissan 240. What does a complete 4bt turbo go for? A quick Ebay search shows them for around 3 grand!!! That is before the adapters, mounts, exhaust, and all sorts of other expenses...you know, little things like transmissions that will work with a transfer case and the transfer case itself to match that tranny. You could easily buy a rebuilt 4.0 with a mod or two that will further destroy the 4bt in HP and exceed it in torque and be bolt in while spending less then just buying the used 4bt itself. Just because you can and others have doesn't mean you should. http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/engine/154-1006-top-10-dumbest-jeep-engine-swaps-ever/

Mine is a 4.0 but started life as a 2wd. I believe that only the 2wd's with their longer shafts had the rubber isolator. My '88 4.0 4x4 did have a solid shaft while both my SWB 4.0/4x2 and another local LWB 4.0/4x2 have the multi-piece rear shaft with the isolator. Mine was visibly deteriorated just looking at the expose end.

Also remember that a 35" tire only raises the vehicle 1.5" higher than a 32" tire, not 3" as the tire heights lead novices to believe. So bigger tires with no lift do very little for getting your belly and other goodies higher. Break-over and departure angles as well as center ground clearance to prevent high centering are much more critical with longer wheel base vehicles with a longish rear overhang like an MJ. Moving the suspension away from the body via lift is how you increase that. The height from the bottom of the trans crossmember to the ground on my 32" tire/5.5" lift truck (just for example) will be 4" higher than on a rig with 35's and no lift. That "no uptravel drag the belly over everything" fad seems to be going away finally and folks are realizing some ground clearance is not a bad thing.

Below is a pic of 32" tires on 5.5" lift for the front and a SOA in the rear with copious amounts of fender trimming front & rear. The TJ flares cover some of the cut out. Based on the flex that I have and the motion range of those 32's I would think that if you lowered that 6" or so to stock height the tires would tear the heck out of the body when flexed & articulated even with the trimming. I suppose you could trim enough to put 35's on stock but you would probably have to limit the crap out of your suspension. Maybe using the marginal stock pieces at stock height keeps it from being a problem? For me I would rather have the articulation. Image Not Found

Although I am sure that almost if not all states require as visible plate some places will be more sticky about it. If like Ohio you have a highway patrol that focuses only on traffic issues you are more likely to get bugged then by say a state police agency that does police work. Generally you will not be bothered and even if you are pulled over you won't get ticketed if all of your other stuff (license status, driving record, insurance) is good to go. Remember that if you do move your plate and you want to due it correctly it will need to be lit, as well. Good job on putting the lights/reflectors on the back of your rack. Not only is it much safer but it is generally required for anything sticking behind your vehicle (over 12" in Ohio).

Same with mine on the potential re-balance issue & degraded rubber. Heck what could I expect after 23 years and 225,000 miles in a state that uses road salt? I got a shaft with the right yokes for $10 at a local yard. They had a truck bed full of shafts and I just measured yokes until I found one that would work. With having it shortened and adding new Spicer joints it was like $124.

2.93...Obama and his rich oil buddies are lowering it for the election....lol

Just FYI: tj/xj/mj all share the same 5x4.5 bolt pattern. If the rims fit your tj they will fit your xj or mj axles without adapters. YJ/KJ/zj/kk/mk also share that pattern

Buying a 2wd auto and converting it to a 4wd auto is cake.

Although they both use a version of the D30 that doesn't mean that the body-side mounts are in the same positions

I have a well riding and an off-road capable truck that I spent about $1,600 on lifting and converting to 4wd. That includes brand new mud terrains. I went about it a different way then the OP wants to go but my way isn't the only way and I know it. I appreciate Hellcreek but I would only buy components that they make. The rest of their stuff is Rough Country who is a crappy company with mediocre products. For 3" of front lift you may consider OME springs and an additional spacer to get the height you want if needed. I know from other Applications that they ride well. Short aal's seem to ride rougher and maybe break leaf packs. If you go AAL I might still stick to full length ones.

Looks like the OP gave up on this fool's errand

You did this well and fairly. The member map does only show the members who bothered to enter their location and the choices are from those who bothered to submit ideas and the poll is a result of those who bothered to vote. If others elsewhere had bothered to do either of the three then things might look different. The inference has to be that if people can't be bothered to do any of those things what are the odds of them showing up anyway?

When welding steel to cast it is often recommended that you heat the cast up first. You can use MAP gas for this. Another idea is to weld a little on one side and a little on the other rather than one continuous burn on each side. This might help to prevent "drawing" the tube and bending if. You would probably be better off with a wider internet search for I ideas on this. A lot more people than jeepers do it.

I don't think locking hubs are the answer for the OP. If all that you want to do is get away from the vacuum actuated CAD then just do a one piece axle conversion, get a posi-lok or build one yourself from directions available from the internet, or swap in a later one-piece axle assembly from a later XJ. That kit is stupid expensive.

If you are looking for a less expensive or junk-yard type of option then 4 rear TJ fender flares work. They are wider and will stick out further from the body. They can also be used to cover larger openings if you need to cut out rust... which is why I have them on there. I don't have $50 in the four of them. Once I had them positioned I trimmed them to match the nearest body line. Image Not Found

I think that the only gear set ratios for your axles would be 4.10 & 4.56

Have him clear some floor space... room for a dozen sleeping bags would work :brows:

A long shot but you may have a motor and/or tranny mount issue. The shift linkage design on these is pretty poor. When under power the drivetrain could be shifting enough to prevent the linkage from moving the range lever correctly.

383...now you are talking. Mopars rock

Keeping the front at stock height and raising the back will change the angle of the tranny output shaft and therefore the angle of the output shaft yoke. We talk u-joint angles but yoke angle are probably what we mean. Changing one yoke say 20* for example and leaving the other at 90* will obviously change the angles. I personally was only discussing the rear shaft in my replies as the initial question was just about lifting the rear. However raising the rear 6" as pictured above will rotate the transmission so that not only will the rear yoke be angled up but the front t-case yoke will be angled down by just raising the rear. The chassis rotates on the front axle axis and you cannot raise the angle of the rear yoke without lowering the angle of the front as the parts are solidly connected. The front CV shaft will probably be able to take it up but the angle will indeed change on the front. That is why I suggested jacking the front up to equal its final lift position prior to measuring where to set the rear pinion angle prior to welding on the new perches.I have recently been through this process and my info on the yoke angles is not theoretical but hands-on. Most of this is moot as the OP cleared up the misperception that only the rear would be lifted.

The angle of the output is now pointed up because of the extreme rake with just the rear lifted. Raising the front will level out that angle. The pinion angle would not have changed by the lift so the angles would be off in one scenario or the other. You are right that the surface does not matter but the relative angles between the two u joint mounting surfaces do. In the 2 pics I posted the pinion angle does not change but if you draw a straight line corresponding to the output shaft in each pic you would see that the lines would be at different angles.