1987Comanche

This one looks promising. 4.0, M/T, 4X4 and the price is right. Will definately need a few trips to the jy to finish it off but it seems to have good bones. http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4455352544.html

Looking good. I see you currently have the 3 wire VSS in the NP231. What are your plans for the speedometer? My donor T-case is from a '96 XJ and also has the 3 wire VSS. From what I can tell the 2 wire setup from the 2WD AX-15 will drop right in. Is it the same deal with the mechanical speedo on your '90? Also are the 2WD and 4WD AX-15 trans to X-member brackets the same?

Thanks :) . I was quite happy with the way it came out. In a way I do feel bad hiding it under truck but I'm hoping to not disturb it for another 100K+ miles. Not a Mopar vehicle but, yes, there's a big girl under that car cover. She's my '65 Olds Delta 88 2 dr Holiday Hardtop. First year for the Delta trim package and has just under 51K original miles...

Not sure if the local driveline shop will like trying to remove the rubber from the 2WD d/s. Other than a Toyota what's a good donor to have cut down? I was thinking that a 93-00ish Suburban or K1500 d/s would give the shop plenty of meat to start with. S-10s and Blazers are also plentiful in the local Pull-a-Part. Thoughts?

My rebuilt axle. Loaded on the custom transporter:

Changing the side gears & spider gears on the D30 is ridiculously hard. It's obvious that the carrier was fully assembled and then dropped into the housing. I wrestled the new roll pin in but it put up one he&& of a fight. Ended up using a piece of 0.5" dia hot rolled bar stock and a sledge to drive it in: Had to hammer the new cross pin all the way in too, even after sitting in the freezer overnight. But the carrier is reassembled: New ball joints & bushings are in too:

So what Driveshaft makes a good donor to work on a SWB 4WD? I was looking for the reason that a lot of shops won't cut down a 2WD d/S and I think I just found it...

Should have specified the front coil springs, not leaf springs. Still it answers my question...I'll use the coils that came with the MJ.

I'm working on Georgia's 4WD conversion and found that, in 2WD form, her springs are P/N 52001118, Code FJ (still has a tag on one spring). These are listed in the parts manual as #780. The donor '96 Sport had P/N 52001117, Code FH, listed as #733. I had expected the donor 4WD to have slightly beefier springs than Georgia but, from what I can tell, the MJ springs are the beefier ones. I'm basing this on the sequential listing of P/Ns (parts manual goes from LD, through SD, and to HD springs). I've looked around but haven't found a definite answer as to what the 733 or 780 means. My best guess is that it's the spring rate expressed in lbs/in. I'm leaning towards reinstalling her original springs (52001118) as they should have a higher spring rate. Any info out there I'm missing?

Thanks :). I'll keep plugging away at it :wrench:

Perhaps $3K for 2WD if it has the AX-15. A few hundred less if it has the BA 10/5

$4K seems reasonable for a rust free 4WD that runs great and either has low milage or a lot of new parts (engine, trans, etc). If he balks at $4K show him this one: http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/4341046817.html

New Yukon Gear parts: New U joints: Working on the differential now. New ball joints are in. I'm making progress but still have a long way to go on this axle...

Been working on the D30 prior to putting it in. The donor truck sat for a long time and spent a few weeks (maybe a month +) laying in the junkyard without wheels. As I started tearing it down the need for a rebuild became apparent. The truck hadn't been hit (straight axle) and the R&P and carrier bearings are good. The rest I can work with: This axle has been a b*&^h to tear down: Hub & bearings were so rusted in place that I pulled them apart instead of out: Finally got the hub & bearing assys out and went to the spindles: Spindle came out and took the upper ball stud with it. I had to put the spindle in the press and pop the studs free. U joints looked rough. They were so tight I tweaked the handle on the press removing them. This was after soaking them for 48 hrs: As found: Side gears & spiders looked questionable so I'm replacing them. Removing the roll pin and carrier pin is a royal PITA. Ended up adapting the axle bearing puller to do the job: Old gears didn't look that great but I saw that when I bought the axle: R&P looked great. Slight wear on the coast side but you can't even feel it: New & old side gears:

Couldn't find the Spicers locally but I found USA made Moog Super Strength joints that look pretty good. http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/universal-joints/super-strength-universal-joints#.U1ZDostOXIU The Chinese Brute Force joints are definately going back. For $1.37/ea more the USA ones seem like a lot safer bet.

The new U-joints for Georgia's D30 front axle arrived today. I ordered the Brute Force joints as I've had good luck with them in the past. I was quite dismayed to see that Neapco has now joined the Made in China bandwagon. Has anyone used the Chinese made version of these U Joints? Do they hold up? Due to the PITA factor of pulling the front axle shafts back out I only want to do this one. I was expecting USA made joints instead of these...

Found a 123K mile front axle & T-case donor for my 4WD conversion :banana: A small jy outside of Charlotte was parting out a '96 XJ with a bad motor (rod knock). This AX-15, NP231 truck was straight and clean. We agreed on $400 for the front axle, driveshafts, NP231, and complete T-case linkage pulled and ready for me to pick up. As it looked on the ad: As it looked yesterday when I went to pick up the parts: Everything was waiting for me. I pulled the diff cover on the axle to check the R&P and everything looked good. The ID tag was on the axle & the fluid was clean. Hadn't been opened since it left Toledo: I field tested the T case by manually shifting through 2hi, neutral, 4HI, & 4LO. Pulled the fill/drain plug and the inside looked clean. Paid for everything and loaded it up: The shift linkage is in the cab and the 5 gal bucket has all the nuts & bolts (I asked them to save all the fasteners). I have to strip, clean, & catalog everything but it seems like it was well worth the drive.

Hmmmm....any way I can visually check the D/s and determine single wall vs. double wall construction? According to the parts manual, I should have 53004816: diagram in the manual doesn't show any cutaway view of the d/s. I've also found a few references to people who've used driveshafts from GM vans and trucks. Would this be a better way to go? If so what would be the best donor?

I was researching driveshafts tonight and came across a post on Rymanrph's 4WD conversion thread: What is different about the 2WD MJ driveshaft?? My plan was to marry the front slip yoke from the '96 to the 2WD d/s and have the local d/s shop cut this one down and rebalance it.

Looking at the crossmember and trans bracket interchange and, as far as I can tell, there doesn't appear to be any difference between the 2WD and 4WD X-member and bracket. Mopar parts manual lists the following: M/T X-member: 52003929 M/T bracket: 52003927 Am I correct in saying that I can reuse my current 2WD ax-15 X-member and bracket with the 4WD trans? It certainly looks like I can.

Spent some time with the Mopar parts manuals and Hollander interchange manual and it looks like most of the parts from my '92 2WD axle should fit the 96 4WD Axle. A$$uming the deal doesn't fall through I was looking to reuse the following: Track bar: 52007118 (same) UCA : 52038130 (same) LCA: 52001162 (same) Rotors: 52008464 for 92, 52008440 for 96. Hollander is 530-1713 for both so it looks like they interchange. Calipers: 52529845 (same) The spring interchange had a ton of different part numbers. I was going to reuse the current 2WD springs unless there's a reason not to. Do I need anything other than the bare axle with spindles from the donor?

I read through the driveshaft measurement procedure but want to make sure I have it straight. After trans/t-case is installed I should install the yoke, bottom it out, then back off 1". Center to center distance from midpoint of U joints would give me the correct measurement, right?

I might have a line on a transfer case & front driveshaft out of an AX-15 equipped '96 XJ sport. From what I can tell the '96 NP231 most likely uses the external slip yoke at the rear output shaft (rubber boot), correct? So I would need the correct yoke to go with the transfer case. I found 2 measurements for a SWB AX-15/NP231 D35 MJ driveshaft: 43 1/8" and, from the CC thread, 43.25". Would this measurement change with the '96+ style slip yoke? It looks a bit longer than the earlier style that uses the yoke to retain fluid in the transfer case. Is the 1/8" discrepancy anything to worry about?

Lifters on a 2.5 are pretty easy to do as you don't have to pull the head. Get the lifter removal tool, new VCG, and some Ultra Slick assembly lube. They come out through the pushrod holes. Why the 4.0 head wasn't designed with lifter removal in mind is a question I could never figure out... :doh: I think it took 2-3 hrs to do on Meg.

Putting the NP246 back into my Suburban after rebuilding it was a real PITA too. The snout has to clear the X-member that holds the torsion bars in place and I had to jack it up at a nose up angle, unchain the case, then shim and reverse angles to get it to clear. The last few inches required the same bench press you went through. Unchaining the case from the tranny jack when it was a few ft in the air was unnerving... I bought the tranny jack to put a clutch in Georgia and expected it to stay in the basement and gather dust. I've now used it 3X in less than a year. Go figure :hmm: