2Wd To 4Wd

[cade leach]

i have an 89 pioneer 2wd automatic 4.0 and a friend of mine who builds rock crawlers and junk out of xjs said that its easy to make my mj a 4wd... how hard is it and what all would i have to do to do this? really want my mj to be 4wd but i don't have a million dollars to fulfill that dream. 

[Incommando]

Simple. Find 4wd donor for front axle, drive shafts, tranny, t case, shifter. Replace 2wd auto with 4wd auto. Bolt on t-case. Bolt off beam axle front and replace with donor front axle. Connect front drive shaft. Attach shifter. Get/make appropriate length rear drive shaft. There are numerous in-depth threads here and elsewhere on the net.

[nitroxsteve]

Its easy, everything is bolt in you just need to find the correct donor vehicle. You will need the following parts.

 

4wd transmission

Transfer case

shift linkage for t-case (don't forget the part that bolts to the floor)

Front and rear drive shafts (you can have your rear shaft shortened)

Front axle with correct gears to match your current rear axle

[cade leach]

so if i were to find an 89 cherokee that was 4x4 for cheep, would the parts match? 

[ggcnash]

so if i were to find an 89 cherokee that was 4x4 for cheep, would the parts match?

Everything except rear driveshaft

[Incommando]

No need to limit yourself to an early version. In fact I would avoid one of the CAD era donors. Just about any XJ would work. I would find a late model with the large u-joint front and the stronger 23-spline AW4/231 as the earlier versions were 21 spline. I would also snag the 29-spline rear 8.25 axle as not only would it match the front for sure it is a strong upgrade over the D35 rear found in most MJ's. If you could find a suitable XJ with a blown motor or that had been wrecked and you could snag what you needed before scraping the rest you may not have to spend that much at all. 

[Blue88Comanche]

the only problem with getting the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle is it not not "bolt in". However it would be worth the effort to have the spring perches moved.  Later on, disc brakes from a KJ liberty would be another bolt on upgrade for an 8.25.

 

Have you decided on the part time only 231 or the 242 with Full time and part time options?  I have the 242 on my MJ and i leave it in Full time.

[Dando]

I have been working on making this swap myself and I am swapping everything into my 90 MJ from my 95 XJ. I am finding that most everything from my much newer cherokee still fits perfectly. And the few things that don't perfectly match up are very insignificant and there are ways around it, Nothing that would stop the truck from being drivable.