ellisfan77

i have to identical jeeps and the 4x4 one is wrecked but the drive trane is all straight i did my research and im thinking about swap my 2wheel drived jeep to 4x4 and thoughts on this process? and from what ive read if the two vehicles are close to being the same the 4wheel drive components will mostly bolt right in with moderate fabrication

THENNING

never done this swap before but i would imagine it wouldnt be to hard with a moderate amount of fab work

ruff88xj

It's mostly bolt up, basicaly swaping the trans/tcase, drive shafts, front axle. of course its a little more involved than that, but easier most 4x4 swaps. There was a couple of threads on JF on this type of swap.

OverlandZJ

Moved from Fab.

ellisfan77

yea before i start doing the swap ive been doing alot of research and i got a buddy that knows some stuff about fab work a little more than me so i think once i do some measureing i think ill start with the axle in the front but im pretty sure im going to have to do some work on my rear dif bc of the difference in gears................... but whats the site you were saying that had the threads about this sort of swap???

duffman5001

I think he was referring to Jeepforum.com

Dugualla

I have been mulling this over, but every time I gas up the 2wd I just smile and think about how nice it is to beat 20mpg. I do want a 4X4, and I want to lift it but I think I will leave to 2wd as is. It makes good DD vehicle.

I am in the market for a 4WD project car, probably a 2 door.

zedpapa

the swap to 4wd is not hard. i am in the middle of doing it on my jeep and so far it has been straight forward and easy. if you swap both axles from the 4x4 you won't have to worry about gears. on mine i have an issue with the front diff hitting the exhaust on bumps, but my exhaust is a little off. just something to watch for.

i haven't put the transfer case in my jeep yet but the front axle is in, and i haven't noticed a drop in mileage, YET. i imagine the big drop will come when i put the 4x trans and transfer case in. of course, having the newer engine and a 5spd helps also.

zedpapa

ellisfan77

im going to start next weekend if everything gos according to plan and i will take pictures on my new journey to show the progress thank you everyone for the advice i will keep posting progress and if i need help i know where to go now thank you everyone who helped

Barlow

I did my swap about 2 months ago, not hard at all, just swap the front and rear ends too and you wont have to worry about gears or anything.

The biggest thing is hooking up all the linkages.

liftedjeepxj

4wd conversion in my 99. very straight forward and simple. granted the location and tools are available, its pretty straight forward.

-Front axle should drop in
-while changing the trans/tcase you might as do some prevent. maint. and drain/fill the tcase and install an SYE if youd like before hand.
-the shifter is simple. pull the center console out and pull some carpet back, and there is a plate that is bolted into the body, take it out and put in the shifter (same mounting holes) and put it back together!
-i got the linkage from a 93 cherokee at the junkyard and it works perfect in my 99. i took my jeep to a trans shop and had them help me adjust the linkage.

all i can think of off the top of my head. hope some of it is helpful!

ellisfan77

thank you all of your advice will come in handy i appreciate it!