Jeeptech's SAK (swiss army knife) XJ build FINALLY 4X4

[Jeeptech01]

Yea I bought an XJ. Yea I sold lower 33". The trials I run here are just too narrow for the dub and I never really got used to coils on all four corners either. So after selling Lower33" for a substantial profit over its purchase price I picked up a "must sell" overheating 01 XJ limited 4x2 with 140k and a busted bumper for a shade over 1k. Think of the XJ as a small version of the ZJ that just happens to have leafs in the rear LOL. I've spent a few late nights at work on it now and its mechanical/maint issues are all fixed up and it is ready to go. Heres some pics:

Day one







Now (cleaned engine, removed broken bumper etc, fixed header panel but it still needs paint, new rad and fan shroud, pulled off door trim blah blah

[Jeeptech01]

Mods listed below are up until the start of the SAK (swiss army knife) build began on p 13 for current mods look there.

Current Mods I will try to keep this updated regularly

Bumpers: Custom front and rear (rear has integrated hitch for towing and recovery)
Chassis: Front Mid and Rear frame stiffeners
Body: Front fenders cut, Rear fender lips cut and folded, Rear lower quarters cut and folded
Tires: 285 75 16 (33.3 x 11.2)
Lift: About 3" Rustys 180lb coils and Durango Bastard pack ROR .75 shackles (8.8 tubes add ~.5), Hydro shocks
Susp: Rustys adj uppers and lowers with flex ends, Zone heimed disco's, RE Heimed adj trac bar
Engine: 4.0l with a rebuilt 0331 head
Trans: AW-4
T-case: 231 w sye and front ds in the rear
Front axle: 2wd beam
Rear axle: trussed 31 spline 8.8 with a modded trac loc and 4.10 gears and discs
Interior: carpet and sound deadener removed (prepped for bedliner)

Current Pic (will try to keep updated)



As always all input is welcomed. Well.. for the most part

[IndyZJ]

Congrats on a screaming deal. What was causing the overheating?

[Jeeptech01]

Tks. Well it was a combination of a clogged rad and lack of fan shroud.

[dp96zj]

looks like a fun new project! what'd you use on the engine bay?

[IndyZJ]

Nice. Is it going to be a DD/ weekend warrior like the WJ?

I'd go with a 5.3 for the power and efficiency. It would most likely be cheaper to find a 5.3/4l65/241 combo than build the 4.0 to anywhere near the same power level and find a 4wd aw4 and t-case. Novak has the motor mounts for ~$200. There are a couple builds on pirate4x4 of XJs with LS motors.

[downtowncb]

5.3 = fun and fast XJ on the relatively cheep, but then again I'm partial But in all honesty I've done both, building a 4.6L stroker and installing a 5.3 and the benefit cost ratio is tilted way towards the 5.3. Also I'd save your money spent on a hp30 and just cool your heels until you can find a nicely priced rubi 44 that bolts right in and do the WJ knuckle swap on that. I know the weaknesses of the axle but so far I couldn't be happier with mine.

Also the Jeep looks in great shape except for the front facia, wtf did they do to it? haha

[Poser 5.9]

Nice score J.T., I like those things. If your taking a vote, I say 5.3 if only for the V8 factor!! And, congrats on getting rid of your street car.

[paulkeith]

Dude, I'd put it all together and sell it. You probably stand to make some money already. The improvement is pretty impressive.

Then get another.

What'd you use to clean the engine bay? Those are fantastic results.

[Jeeptech01]

Tks guys. This will be a DD/weekend warrior like the WJ was. I want to take it to the next level though. I just used an all purpose degreaser and a pressure washer on the engine bay. Just be sure to do it with the engine running so if you soak something that makes it stall you know what it was LOL.

As far as selling it and grabbing another I've considered it but my wife hates the in limbo between cars thing and requested that I not. Plus people are snapping these thing up like crazy down here for some reason and its kinda hard to get your hands on one. esp cheap.

The hp30? Well I figured I'd get it under there until I could snag the 44 since the wj knuckles and steering setup will transfer over (it will transfer over wont it? IIRC they share the same tubes and C's) A hp30 is only like $75 at my local yard.

Ok the motor. Not trying to make uber power but I would like to have enough power to run a DD friendly gear ratio (4.10 hopefully) with the 35's. I just liked the turbo idea since there is less hassle and I can pretty much have no downtime for the upgrade. I have done several ls swaps and they always cost more than you think they will in the end. Esp a 4x4 cause then you have two driveshafts. Hell I had less than $900 in my last scratch built turbo setup.

Well I guess ya'll helped me make my mind up about the motor.

Now how can I get a 242hd in there or some other strong chain case with part time 4x4?

[1fox2go]

If you plan on 35s I vote running a 4.56 gear

Also the 231 should be strong enough if you are concerned you can up grade the chain. Cant remember the company J something...

[zjeepin]

If you plan on 35s I vote running a 4.56 gear

Also the 231 should be strong enough if you are concerned you can up grade the chain. Cant remember the company J something...

its jb conversions that makes the 231hd they were $900+ about 5 years ago when i bought one.. you can build the same case out of jy parts real cheap and with JT's ablilites i'd recommend that..

as far as powering your xj, i seriously recommend doing some work to the 4.0, bore your tb, port your head and get rid of the bottle knecks in the exhaust. hell then turbo it and you'd have a baaaad mofo on the cheap

I did these few things recently *minus the turbo* on mine and I am very happy with the power now, i have no plans for v8 swap and i'm on 42's..

nice looking xj dude and congrats on the steal of a deal. glad your plans are coming together for you..

[rstrucks]

X2 on the 4.56's.

I'd also run the 231. Mine has held up well to my ZJ on 35's and now on 37's. With an XJ being so much lighter you should be fine.

I'd also go for the turbo just to limit downtime. Plus they sound really cool.

[LouisianaZJ]

Nice

[AgitatedPancake]

x3 for 4.56 or better!

As for the tcase, yes you can make yourself a badass case man! I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and have found some pretty cool stuff. the 242HD, 242AMG, and NP241 all share some of the parts that make them badass. You get the 6 planetary reduction, wide chain, and 32 spline rear output to match the front. Also, this means there are a few input shafts to choose from to get you the right one.

The 242AMG is what came behind hummers, and is badass. It is alltime 4wd, but you could modify it to allow 2wd from what I've read. It has a fluid cooler inside the tcase itself also, but I can't find a pic of it right now. It also came with a speedo output on the rear mainshaft. You might even be able to swap the rear main and tailcone from a 242AMG into a WJ/Dodge 242HD to give you a mechanical speedo via the tcase. The cases are pretty much identical in that sense.



The 242HD also came in some dodges, so you might be able to find one with the correct short input shaft (as WJ 242HD's have like a 3"+ shaft)

Here's a good 242HD SYE thread too man!

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74313

[Jeeptech01]

Thanks for the input guys.

The consensus seems to be 4.56 gears what is the reasoning behind this? To have more power on the street or better gearing for the trails? The reason I ask is that my last XJ was on 33's with 3.55's and I didnt mind it at all. I also do 75% highway driving too which plays a big role. The other thing is that turbos like alot of load and they tend to spool better with numerically lower gears (within reason) Plus I can prolly find an 8.8 with 4.10's so I'll only need to regear the front

Second thing is I got kinda spoiled having the 247 in the WJ during our Florida downpours and it made me feel a bit safer handing my wife the keys. Id really like to have a case with part time 4wd. I know a 231 can be made plenty strong and are also stout in stock form but what about the 242? All I could find is that the 242 is next weakest in line after the 231 but how much IDK?

Thanks for helping with the questions guys Im feeling a bit newbish even after a few days of reading up on zj/xj stuff.

ed: was looking at this info too http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/np242.htm

[1fox2go]

I'm running 4.56 on my jeep with 35s it does good on the street and pretty good off road.

Just get a turbo to spool up for the RPM range you plan on having the Jeep at most of the time off road

[AgitatedPancake]

the 242HD uses all the components of the same strength as the 231 HD. Both the HD's are much stronger than the other non-hd cases.

The HD cases offer you a 6-planetary reduction instead of 3 like normal, they offer you a 1.25" wide tcase chain instead of 1", and a 32 spline rear output compared to 27 from the average 242/231/etc.

If you liked the 247 for that reason, I think you would like the AMG case then. It's got 4 fulltime and 4 low just like the 247, but has an open "diff" while the tcase is in high instead of the progressive coupler like the 247. In low it should be the same.

What you're going to have to figure out, is what input shaft your current tcase has. I know XJ's went through a few different options...21 spline...23 spline, hell there might have been a few different lengths of 23 spline cases, I can't remember.

*EDIT* Oh and the reason I was saying 4.56, is I have a friend with 5.38's in his cherokee with 35's right now and it's pretty bearable form what he's said. It drives great around town, but pulls about 3k RPM's while in OD doing 65. What you said about the turbo makes sense though, and the fact that you are going to be turbo'd is going to help either way so I don't think you'll be hating either decision lol.

[Jeeptech01]

So far I found a year split around 97 for the tranny's and cases so that must be where it changed. I liked the 247 for the progressive coupling but liked the 242 more for the progressive coupling plus 4 lock plus 2hi. I was reading on pirate whare a guy upgraded the planetary by robbing some from another annulus and installing them so that's covered now I just need to figure out how to get the fat chain. Ise goin junkyardin on Sun!!

[IndyZJ]

If you go with a 231, DO NOT pay $900 for one. Get a Jeep 231 and Chevy 231HD (usually found 89 and up 4.3 s-10s with an actual t-case shifter) from the JY. All of the internals will swap over, basically giving you a 241 in a smaller package with 6 planetaries and a much wider chain. I just rebuilt a Chevy 231HD with a HD Jeep SYE to go behind a 700r4. You should be able to buy it all with a new chain from Summit and JB Conversions HD SYE for about $450 tops. This, of course, is if you stay with the Jeep drivetrain.

The 4.0's only benefits IMO is that it's already there and relatively reliable if it's been taken care of. It can be enough motor for an XJ since they're so much lighter than most on this site are used to. With an appropriate size turbo, it could be a lot fun, but I would be hesitant to run one with the stock XJ cooling system.

I'm well aware of the expense involved in swapping an LS motor. You should have no trouble picking up a 5.3/trans/t-case/ ecu for around $500 right now. The mounts are $200, you have to raise the power steering pump like CB did, you'll need a new radiator either way as XJs tend to already borderline on cooling capacity, headers/ exhaust, cutting down the harness, tuning, and driveshafts. Everything I've read states that the later 4.0 fuel system will support a stock-ish 5.3. You don't have to get two new shafts made - just get JY ones shortened/ lenthened and replace the u-joints. I'd think it could be done for about $1500 total if you're recycling as much as possible, but I'd plan on $2k. You should be able to sell your 4.0 and trans for a few hundred to recoup some of the cost.

The 5.3 will be more efficient in a DD if mileage is a concern, especially if you can keep your foot out of it. 4.56 gears with a 5.3 in something as light as an XJ = 4wheel burnouts

My .02 as far as the drivetrain goes. Either way would be sweet.

[LouisianaZJ]

4.88 or 513 IMHO if going to swap the d30, and w a v8 you will. I have 4.56 35s and it is bearable. Kinda limited to 4.56 due to d30 pinion size though

[Jeeptech01]

Thats good info on the 231hd. I suppose I'll go that route and just drive a bit slower in the rain.. and not give my wife the keys LOL.

Cooling was a big concern for me when deciding about the powertrain since I'd rate the XJ cooling system as poor at best but I have some tricks up my sleeve for that. When I had the 5.3 in the Buick I noticed it ran hotter than the 6.0 did on the same cooling system and have noticed that generally the 5.3's seem to run warmer for some reason. This was a deciding factor for me also. I figure the KISS concept comes into play here also. While the 5.3 would be sick, a turbo 6 (straight six no less) will also be pretty fawkin cool and use all cheap readily availible parts (with exception of the turbo stuff) in case I break stuff.

[Jeeptech01]

Hey quick question. The carrier split for the d30 is 3.73 so can I use a WJ front carrier in the hp 30 since most wj's have 3.73's or is it different?

[AgitatedPancake]

Send this guy a PM, seriously. He is the boosted/stroked 4.0 god over on Pirate, he builds his own setups and has even looked into producing kits in the past. He knows how to do it economically, or for big power. And he just does SICK work.

*double edit* Lol these links are to YJ_and_Corey, that's aweome Indy haha!


400+HP pump gas 4.5 stroker build:
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthrea...4289&highlight=

Fawking AMAZING D60TTB YJ built for koth.
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthrea...9346&highlight=

*edit* Just saw your question, I'd bed they would be the same as long as you avoided quadra drive

[IndyZJ]

I would imagine it would be the same with a Dodge 231HD, but I haven't done it myself, so I can't really say. According to JB conversions, there can be some variation in the Chevy cases, but the internals were interchangeable with my '89 case.

In all reality, the 4.0 should be enough for an XJ with the right gearing. I was just pushing toward a more badass setup . What kind of turbo setups have you built before?

Check out YJ_and_Corey's engine builds on pirate4x4. Another guy over there with a YJ has a great 4.0 turbo write up/ project. Also, I can't remember who it is, but one of the major crankshaft manufacturers just came out with a stroker crank for 4.0s. You can also get the correct sized forged pistons for these motors now, too. Just some food for thought.