mike50401

I have a 1995 Grand Cherokee. All I own are Jeeps, but this one has my over a barrel. If I drive it for very long on the highway it starts to feel like it's pulsing. Then when I get off the highway it pops when I turn. Sounds like a CV joint. It does not do it unless I have been on the highway, and if I let it sit for a few minutes it stops until I get back on the highway. I don't seem to have any problems in town for local driving.

I am hearing a lot that sounds like it is the VC thingy (official term). I really can not afford the repair bill for that. I have heard two things and hope someone will clarify.

One is that I can remove the front drive shaft. It seems to me that I will lose fluid if I do that, and I started to when I realized that the front drive shaft is what holds it in park. Any thoughts about having it removed? Also, how do you remove the front of the front drive shaft?

The next thing i have had a couple people on Yahoo Answers tell me that they have driven years with this problem. They said it is just annoying and might be hard on tires, but that there is not big problem with driving it with a bad VC beyond annoyance.

4.3L XJ

Do you have full time four wheel drive? It sounds like it. If so you would have to leave it locked in 4WD to be able to remove the front drive line.

mike50401

If it is full time 4wd how would I "keep it locked in"? Yes it is full time 4wd. Thanks for the help.

What do you think about just running it with the bad vc? I don't have a lot of choice, but would like to know what I get into. I work with troubled teens. The money is just above volunteer.. LOL. The rewards are huge, but I can't buy another car on the joys of seeing the boys succeed.

4.3L XJ

Ultimately I don't think it would hurt anything. Just annoying. You might want t do one of two things. repair it or convert to a NP231 part time tcase. They don't have any real issues. The VCs do wear out.

nick_n_ii

If you remove your front drive shaft you will completely junk your T-case. Pre-97 I be leave is the year you can't remove the front shaft from teh 249 T-case with out killing it..

seed

96 is when they changed the design of the 249. If your vicious coulper is already shot you can remove the front shaft so that it's not binding,however IT WILL ROLL IN PARK!

nick_n_ii

Thank you for the year clarification.. I wasn't far off..

nyfreakinrican7

Just a little lost is the VC a part of the transfer case or the front diff?

nick_n_ii

It's in the t-case.. But acts as a differential. If you don't have a front drive shaft it sends power in the direction of the least resistances. That's why it would send all the power to the lack of a front driveshaft.

redinak

Raising an old thread here. We are looking at buying a '96 which has had the front drive shaft removed for probably 10k miles at least. It doesn't roll in Park. We are assuming there is a NP 242 QuadraTrac II in the GC.

So the VC would be messed up because it has been spinning all this time because it was thinking there was a giant variation in speeds between the front and rear?

Thanks...

country_boy454

The quadra trac system is the np249 not the selec trac np242. If it is the V8 it has the 249 unless the previous owner swapped it for either the 231 or the 242.

Also if it is the 242 then removing the front shaft will have no effect on it because the 242 has the 2 wheel drive option.

The np249's were redesigned in the 96-98s. It is fine to run them with no front shaft. I do it with mine in the summer and put it back in come winter.

AdilPCN

Hi, I have a similar question: just bought a 95 Cheep Grad Cherokee Laredo with 6 cylinder engine. The transmission does not have a 2WD mode, only 4WD,N and 4WDlo.
The car does not roll in park, I guess it indicates that the front driveshaft is in place. Still, only the two rear wheels light up in the multi display. Why would the front wheels not light up? What can I check to troubleshoot?
Thanks.