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View Full Version : tj 231 swap, worried about planetary gear mesh



danthemanx07
08-06-2004, 02:24 PM
i have read a bunch of threads on swapping in the 231 and the writeups that a lot of you guys have done are great, after reading, the consensus seems to be to steer clear of tj cases becasue their planetary gears "may be different," but i can get a 231 from a 97 tj with a 21 spline shaft for 80 bucks, so this is a deal that is hard to pass up, my zj is a 96, and i dont have any experience with t-cases, many of you that have done the swap have switched out the entire planetary gear set,

my question is how hard is it to swap those planetary gears out?

i dont really want to buy the case for 80 and spend 200 getting it to work right so i am trying to determine the risk of buying this case

this is the case:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/danthemanx07/231.jpg

how much do you think a shop would charge to swap the gears if it becomes necessary?

just for comparison, junkyards down here in ms want 300-500 for their 242's and 231's. i have no idea why they want so much i told them they were nuts.

JayDee
08-06-2004, 04:09 PM
i have read a bunch of threads on swapping in the 231 and the writeups that a lot of you guys have done are great, after reading, the consensus seems to be to steer clear of tj cases becasue their planetary gears "may be different," but i can get a 231 from a 97 tj with a 21 spline shaft for 80 bucks, so this is a deal that is hard to pass up, my zj is a 96, and i dont have any experience with t-cases, many of you that have done the swap have switched out the entire planetary gear set,

my question is how hard is it to swap those planetary gears out?

i dont really want to buy the case for 80 and spend 200 getting it to work right so i am trying to determine the risk of buying this case

this is the case:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/danthemanx07/231.jpg

how much do you think a shop would charge to swap the gears if it becomes necessary?

just for comparison, junkyards down here in ms want 300-500 for their 242's and 231's. i have no idea why they want so much i told them they were nuts.

There was a change-over in about '94. If you have a 96 input gear from your ZJ, it will work in the TJ case.

You can check the two different gear mesh styles that they used by looking at the gear teeth. If they are sharp, it's one style and should only be used with the other "sharp" gears, if the gears have a bit of a flat surface ground on the top of them, then they're the other style.

So basically... look at the input gear that you pull out of that TJ case, and then look at your gear... if one of them has noticeably flattened tops of the teeth and the other doesn't, then they won't mesh.

I hope you can understand what I just wrote. Not sure if I can decipher it myself. :wink:

Raacerx
08-07-2004, 02:43 PM
I run a 231 from a '97 TJ and its using an input shaft from a '94 249 transfer case. No issues.

Peak ZJ
08-13-2004, 11:56 PM
i have read a bunch of threads on swapping in the 231 and the writeups that a lot of you guys have done are great, after reading, the consensus seems to be to steer clear of tj cases becasue their planetary gears "may be different," but i can get a 231 from a 97 tj with a 21 spline shaft for 80 bucks, so this is a deal that is hard to pass up, my zj is a 96, and i dont have any experience with t-cases, many of you that have done the swap have switched out the entire planetary gear set,

my question is how hard is it to swap those planetary gears out?

i dont really want to buy the case for 80 and spend 200 getting it to work right so i am trying to determine the risk of buying this case

this is the case:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/danthemanx07/231.jpg

how much do you think a shop would charge to swap the gears if it becomes necessary?

just for comparison, junkyards down here in ms want 300-500 for their 242's and 231's. i have no idea why they want so much i told them they were nuts.

There was a change-over in about '94. If you have a 96 input gear from your ZJ, it will work in the TJ case.

You can check the two different gear mesh styles that they used by looking at the gear teeth. If they are sharp, it's one style and should only be used with the other "sharp" gears, if the gears have a bit of a flat surface ground on the top of them, then they're the other style.

So basically... look at the input gear that you pull out of that TJ case, and then look at your gear... if one of them has noticeably flattened tops of the teeth and the other doesn't, then they won't mesh.

I hope you can understand what I just wrote. Not sure if I can decipher it myself. :wink:

I'm with Jaydee on this, I missed the difference on the first swap and had to go back with a newer case... Originally I ran a 93 249 input in a 98 231 case, and had to go back with an older one...

Swamp boy
08-14-2004, 12:33 AM
I am running a 93 ZJ input gear inside a 98 TJ case with 2002 Dodge sprockets and chain... NO problems whatsoever... Works like a dream..

MaineZJ
08-14-2004, 06:20 PM
Has anyone done a 231 swap and had bad luck with the gear mesh?
I'm looking at a 97TJ case for $75, going into a 93 w/V8

cherokeekid
08-15-2004, 01:24 AM
yes,

I have however gotten away with swapping an older input into a newer case (sun gear and all)

and been able to swap a newer input only in to an olde sun gear and not had issues.

but I have swapped an newer input and sun into a older case and had issues and not been able to swap a older input into a newer sun gear

so I guess my answer would be a firm.....maybe

gearhead313
08-16-2004, 12:38 PM
dunno if cherokee 231's apply here, but i put a 95 case in my 93 v8 and changed the input with the sun/planetary's and its like a normal case, no noise.

...actually might think about selling it soon.