Hi everyone, I am new to jeeps, just bought a clean nearly bone stock '88 Cherokee Pioneer and just as the title says wondering how do I tell what it has? The transfercase has a full time and part time selection and looks like it has the Dana 35 in the back. Thanks for your help!

 

If you have a full time 4wd option you have the NP242

 

Nice! thanks, is that a good thing? What gears will the diffs have?

 

if it says 4h and 4l its the 231 tcase

if it says part time and full time you have the 242

your gears more than likely are 3.55, but i think some came as high as 3.23 and as low as 4.11s

you can take your vin and send it to jeep and they will send you a build sheet of what your jeep came with from the factory

remember, if someone put new gears in it or something, it wont show....

 

Auto? 3.55

Manual? 3.07

 

You'll know if its regeared.

If its got bigger tires and drives like stock, its regeared.

If its got normal size tires and the speedo is really off, and your rpms are racing at freeway speeds, its regeared.

Etc etc etc...

 

It's an auto so probably has 3.55 gears then? This thing is all stock except for shackles and spacers that I put on. The tires are 29" so Maybe slightly over sized but I doubt it's been re-geared, I don't think the previous owner had ever taken it off road. I'm sure enjoying it though, it runs and drives great and everything works. I took it out for my first wheeling trip last weekend and now I have all kinds of plans. Lol But it will likely be my daily driver in the crappy weather months.

 

If its auto you most likely have 355s then.
If your rear axle is more round shape then you have the 35 rear.

The d44 is easy to pick out..shaped way different.

 

Cool, it gets off the line just fine for the size tires it has, so I didn't think they were super tall. I've been into muscle cars And hot rods for a long time but this is my first 4 wheel drive and it was a blast seeing What it could do out there.
It's got about a 2" lift with the coil spacers and shackles
Whats the first thing you guys did to yours to give it some more off road capability?

 

As others have said, Full time 4wd option on the t-case means it's a 242. Otherwise it's a 231. If it's an automatic it's an AW4. If it's a 5-speed it's an AX-15. To find out your gearing, jack up the rear end and count the number of times the driveshaft rotates per 1 tire rotation. 3.5 driveshaft rotations = 3.55 gearing. just past 4 rotations = 4.10's. 4.5 rotations = 4.56's. Easiest way to find out.

 

Not the first thing I did, but I were to do it all over again, first thing would be to put in at least a rear locker.

 

Is one of the cases better than the other? or basically the same?

 

You don't want a D35, they are weak.

The 8.25 is a direct bolt in, and the d44 is as well, but are difficult to find. The D44 is the strongest of the stock axles.